Every June is Alzheimer’s and brain awareness month in the United States. This is a time for people of all ages to raise awareness and join in on the fight against this disease. To increase awareness, we at Freedom Home Care have provided some ways to get involved for all ages. Let’s start with something for everyone. The first thing you can do to get involved is to maintain 67 seconds of silence. Every 67 seconds someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and showing some silence will help recognize just how frequent this disease is. Wearing purple is
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Archives for Alzheimer’s
Can Dementia Come and Go?
Can Dementia Come and Go? That is often something that goes through a lot of people’s minds when they are dealing with or have a family member diagnosed with dementia. At Freedom Home Care, your home care agency, we have asked some experts and are here to share what they have to say about dementia coming and going. One morning your loved one is lost and not sure who you are greeting them. The next morning they greet you with a smile and are enjoying the daily newspaper. Could it be that their dementia has gone away and they
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How to Stimulate Someone Living with Alzheimer’s Disease
As a home care agency we know that having a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s disease is not easy. This progressive disease eventually begins to wear down your body’s senses, and you then need something known as sensory stimulation to help maintain those functions. By doing so, you will notice a way to improve a loved one’s life without the use of medication. You are in luck! We at Freedom Home Care have found some great activities that’ll help your loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia stay engaged and positively benefit them. Try any of these activities
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Childrens' Books Teach Kids About Alzheimer's
Understanding Alzheimer’s is difficult for most adults. And explaining a complex disease like dementia to a child, can be even more of a challenge. That challenge is magnified when the loved the one suffering from Alzheimer’s as a grandparent. Children have fond memories of grandmothers and grandfathers. Traveling back-and forth to their homes for the holidays, times spent cooking or fishing together – even listening to familiar stories passed down through the generations. When family members branch out and begin their own lives, grandparents are often the glue that holds everyone together. They also seem to hold a special place
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The Gift of Family
Although there are all kinds of apps to help seniors communicate with family and technology to keep us connected, there is truly nothing like spending time together, especially in this season. In the time of celebration, amid the busyness the holidays bring, loneliness can largely affect seniors, especially those with Alzheimer’s, as they aren’t able to do everything they once could. But there’s an easy way to combat the feelings of solitude: family. A family isn’t just blood relatives – it’s the people who care and are willing to sacrifice time for someone else. Not just during one time of
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Best Activities for Seniors with Alzheimer’s
As Alzheimer’s disease disrupts memory, impairs their behavior and reasoning, those in senior care near Chicago may stop doing some of the things they once loved. But this diagnosis does not strip one of their needs and desire to have a full, meaningful life. It just means changes may need to be made and new activities taken up that allow self-expression, lessen anxiety, stir memories, promote connection with others and improve quality of life, such as: Read & Relax Books can comfort, entertain, inform and provide an outlet for engagement. Researchers have even found that reading improves the quality of
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What You Need to Know About Communicating and Working With Alzheimer's Patients
Living with the effects of Alzheimer’s on a daily basis can be challenging for both patients and their caretakers. And communicating with a loved one who has the disease can also take a significant toll on your relationship if you’re not clear on how Alzheimer’s impacts the way your senior relates to others. What many family members may not know about a loved one suffering from the disease is that Alzheimer’s can cause significant damage to the neural pathways in the brain. The brain’s neurons are responsible for sending messages back and forth to different parts of the body. Alzheimer’s interrupts this process, leaving
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Join Us for the Walk to End Alzheimer's
Get your gym shoes, friends and family ready! We have a date for our North Shore 2017 Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Join us Saturday, September 16, 2017 to help a world without Alzheimer’s.
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How To Help Alzheimer's Patients Enjoy Life
Most people with Alzheimer’s would agree that one of the unfortunate effects of the disease is its ability to rob them of their quality of life. And what one person considers “quality of life” may not be same as the next person. Some may lose the ability to remember or make sound choices and decisions, while others might experience a decline in their physical or emotional health. There are older loved ones who may not have the desire to participate in activities or do the things that they used to do like attending religious services, going to sporting events or dating and
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Slow The Progression of Parkinson's
Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder that worsens over time. It causes the eventual malfunction and death of neurons in the brain. Here’s what happens. The substantia nigra is the part of the brain that houses the affected neurons. These neurons create less and less dopamine over time. Dopamine sends signals to the portion of the brain that controls movement and coordination – over time, patients with Parkinson’s can no longer manage their body’s movement. While doctors are still unsure of what causes Parkinson’s Disease, they do know that older loved ones are at greater risk for developing the condition.
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