Living well with dementia
We know how worrying and stressful it can be when a loved one is living with dementia or increasing memory loss. Watching someone close whose life is impacted by the varying symptoms presented by dementia can be distressing.
Many family carers feel guilty that they themselves are struggling to cope and provide the care and support their loved one needs. Where can I get the best care? How can my loved one continue to enjoy life? How can I better manage their changing needs? These are some of the questions you may have asked yourself.
While a dementia diagnosis can be upsetting for not just the person receiving the diagnosis but for all their family, an early diagnosis means the person can live well with the right dementia care and support in place.
What does living well with dementia mean?
Living well with dementia, as embraced by The Good Care Group, involves providing individuals with a nurturing and supportive environment that caters to their unique needs and helps them maintain the highest possible quality of life. Our approach to high-quality dementia care is built on several key principles:
Person-centred care
We recognise that each person’s journey with dementia is unique. We take a personalised and person-centred approach to care, meaning we tailor our services to meet each person’s individual needs, wants, and preferences. We know involving people with dementia in their own care process as much as is possible empowers them to maintain autonomy and control over their lives.
Dignity and respect
We are committed to treating individuals with dementia with the utmost respect, compassion, and understanding. Preserving dignity and upholding the rights of our clients is fundamental to everything we do. We focus on the person, not their condition.
Engagement and activities
Staying active and engaged is essential for slowing cognitive symptoms and maintaining physical well-being for all of life. Our professional carers can facilitate enjoyable activities and hobbies that align with the person’s interests and abilities. Our care is guided by you and how you want to live your life.
Emotional support
Our holistic approach involves ensuring the entire family feels supported. Our in-house Consultant, Admiral Nurse Jane Pritchard, has 20 years of dementia care experience. She provides practical and informed advice to families that really make a positive difference.
Family involvement
We recognise that family plays a crucial role in the care of many people living with dementia. Open communication and collaboration with family members help maintain a robust support network and ensure that the individual’s unique needs are met.
What are the symptoms of dementia?
Living well with dementia is possible if the right care and support are put in place to help manage symptoms. The symptoms of dementia will vary from person to person and are often influenced by the type of dementia a person is living with. Many symptoms will progressively get worse over time. The most common symptoms are:
- Memory loss
- Lack of concentration
- Unable to learn new things
- Problems with planning, organising and making decisions
- Difficulties with language and speech
- Orientation problems, for example, losing track of time or getting lost
- Problems with judgement and visual perception
- Changes in behaviour and personality, including issues with controlling emotions
As the disease progresses, the person living with dementia may experience problems with weight loss, swallowing, continence and mobility. Those living with Lewy body dementia may also experience hallucinations or unusual ideas in later-stage dementia.
How to live well with dementia
A dementia diagnosis doesn’t mean your loved ones have to stop doing the things they love. These are some tips on how to live well with dementia that will keep you or your loved ones independent and make your day-to-day life a little easier.
Establish a routine
Creating a structured daily routine can make your loved one’s day easier and help stimulate their memory. Following the same routine every day provides a sense of security and reassurance. Remember to try and schedule activities that make them feel better both physically and mentally, like socialising with family and friends or going for regular walks.
Here are some practical tips to consider:
- Set a Schedule: Establish a daily schedule that includes regular meal times, exercise, and other activities.
- Keep It Simple: Make sure that the routine is straightforward and easy to follow.
- Make it visible: Keep your schedule in an easy-to-see place, like the kitchen wall or fridge.
- Be Flexible: While routines are important, it's also essential to allow for flexibility. Don’t try to take on too much and prioritise the activities that promote your health and wellbeing.
Staying active
Staying active is a cornerstone of living well with dementia. Enjoying regular physical exercise not only boosts mood but may also provide many cognitive and physical benefits. Exercise does not need to be strenuous to be effective - leisurely walks, gentle exercises, and hobbies that align with personal interests are all great ways to get started.
Take a look at our guides for more ideas on staying active:
Foster social connections
Keeping in touch with family and friends and staying connected with the local community can boost the confidence of the person living with dementia, and mental well-being. A dementia diagnosis may feel isolating, but a support network can help with feeling supported and connected.
There are many activities and groups nationwide that cater to people with dementia and their families, including special screenings at movie theatres and dementia-friendly cafes. There are dementia singing groups, walking teams and sports teams - there truly is something for everyone to enjoy. The NHS has an activities for dementia guide with great advice to get you started.
Look after your health
Looking after mental and physical health is important to people living with dementia. Here are some practical tips to consider:
- Get hearing and eyesight tested. The NHS offers free eye tests for people over 60 every 2 years and the person’s GP can schedule a hearing test.
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet and drink plenty of fluids.
- Ask the GP if you the person would benefit from flu vaccination and pneumonia vaccination.
- If you notice any changes to your mood or emotional well-being, do not hesitate to share your concerns with the GP. Depression and anxiety are common with dementia.
- Get enough sleep. If the person ishaving trouble sleeping well, try eliminating caffeine after midday and avoid naps during the day.
Living well with dementia throughout your journey
There are three main stages in a person’s dementia journey: early stage (sometimes referred to as early-onset dementia), mid stage and later stage dementia. It is possible for a person to live well with dementia at home with the right care in place. Here is how our professional carers at The Good Care Group support our clients to live well through every stage of their dementia:
Early stage dementia
At this stage, our carers focus on ensuring the person living with dementia can live as independently as possible with as little or as much support as they require.
Living well with dementia strategies can be put in place to support memory loss – writing to-do lists, settling on one place to keep important items like wallets and keys, and having a pad close by to take notes. Lifestyle choices can be encouraged and actively promoted by our carer. Eating well and exercising regularly, as well as keeping the brain active through puzzles, reading and socialising, are all proven to have a positive impact on well-being.
A person in the early stages of dementia is likely to experience changes in their mood and may easily become anxious, depressed or irritable. Our carers are trained to work with this situation and encourage and stimulate positive attitudes and thinking to lift spirits and enhance well-being.
Mid stage dementia
While everyone’s journey with dementia is different, the signs of the middle stage of the disease can mark the moment when changes to the care arrangements are necessary. The middle stage can be the longest and sometimes the most challenging for the person living with dementia and those who care for them.
Our professional carers are trained to identify changing care needs and move at your pace, adapting their approach as needs increase. They can offer the necessary physical support, for example, help with bathing, dressing and eating, as well as encouraging gentle exercise that maintains strength and mobility.
Carers employed by The Good Care Group are sensitive to emotions and respond positively to any signs of distress, finding shared, simplified language that enables the person living with dementia to communicate and express feelings.
Late stage dementia
Dementia in all forms is a progressive condition. By the time it reaches later stages, the person will likely need 24-hour care and support. During this stage, the person living with dementia is likely to have become extremely frail, with severe memory loss and may well have trouble with communicating, eating and swallowing. They may also spend long periods of time inactive and become prone to infections.
Communication is key at this stage. All our carers are trained to have meaningful interactions with those they are caring for when speech is limited – eye contact, gestures or shared experiences all provide ways to make a connection. Listening to a piece of music together can help someone feel safe, connected and loved.
During late stage dementia, more specialist medical care may be needed. At The Good Care Group, our care teams are supported by leading clinical experts in dementia care who guide our approach. Carers can draw on the expertise of our in-house Consultant Admiral Nurse and Occupational Therapist. Carers proactively use techniques required for safe moving, pre-empting medical issues, and identifying infections that reduce unnecessary hospital admissions. For many, our care is life-changing, with fewer falls, infections and reliance on antipsychotic drugs.
Treatments for dementia
The use of antipsychotic medication to treat dementia symptoms has been increasingly challenged over the last ten years, as they have been shown to be harmful for people living with dementia and are at times prescribed unnecessarily. Through our approach to professional and specialist one-to-one care for those living with dementia, our clients are four times less likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medication than residents of care homes.
Living well with dementia at home
We know receiving care in the comfort, safety and familiarity of your own home has far-reaching benefits in improving overall health and well-being for a person living with dementia. Moving at any stage in life can be disruptive and stressful. When an individual is living with dementia, the process of moving to a care home, away from their much-loved home full of its treasured possessions and memories, can be really heart-wrenching and distressing, affecting their ability to live well with dementia.
We know that living with Dementia at home and receiving compassionate, one-to-one care from a highly trained and well matched professional carer improves quality of life and health outcomes for an individual living with dementia. Our personalised approach to providing high-quality live-in care for a person living with dementia, with a fully managed and flexible service that families can rely on is setting the standards in live-in care.
Specialist dementia care from our experts
At The Good Care Group, we know receiving care in the comfort, safety and familiarity of home has far-reaching benefits in improving the health and well-being of people living with dementia. For over 10 years, we’ve helped countless families just like yours receive the dedicated dementia care they need in the place they love most – their own home.
We adopt a blended approach to delivery of dementia care, led and supported by our own Consultant Admiral Nurse. This support from an Admiral Nurse means we can offer unrivalled levels of emotional and practical support to those living with dementia and their families.
Our expert carers complete an industry-leading training programme endorsed by Age UK. All our carers are expertly trained in how to care for someone living with dementia and use a range of best practice techniques proven to provide reassurance, reduce anxiety and calm behaviours. This compassionate approach reduces the need for the antipsychotic drugs used widely in many care home settings.
Learn more about our dementia care services and meet our experts
What does our dementia care service include?
- Full assessment before care starts
- Bespoke and flexible care plan developed with input from the family and other healthcare professionals
- Social activities and lifestyle enhancement
- Specialist support and expertise – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Matching the most suitable care team to meet the holistic needs of our clients
- A dedicated care team led by an expert regional care manager
- Meal planning and household tasks
- Access to clinical expertise and medical support
Useful resources
To support you and your family, we have created a useful Dementia Care Guide, which provides information and advice on providing person-centred dementia care following a diagnosis of dementia.
Several dementia charities across the UK provide families with help, advice and support when they need it most, including Dementia UK and the Alzheimer’s Society. The NHS has a useful living well with dementia guide that provides practical tips and guidance so people living with dementia can live a fulfilling life.
Other conditions we care for
Talk to us about your dementia care needs
Our friendly and experienced team is here to help you and your family make sense of the options available to you. Call us today – we will help you every step of the way.