Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia has a unique set of challenges. But when you don’t know the likes, dislikes, and personal history of the person with dementia, it is even harder to provide proper care.
Perceived behavioral issues make more sense when the person’s life story is known. For instance, understanding what they did for a career may help explain their unique morning routine. Or knowing where they grew up may help identify music or traditions they enjoy.
Without this context, however, the caregiver may try to correct the actions of the person with dementia. This attempted correction often leads to further anxiety and frustration by both individuals.
In this article, How Sharing a Life Story Helps Dementia Caregivers, published by Next Avenue, I further discuss the importance of documenting your loved one’s life story.
Have you documented your loved one’s life story? If not, your missing a great opportunity to provide both enrichment and better care.
Get started by using this Person Centered Profile.
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This is a great article Mike. You are so right that Life Stories are important to document. I did a time line for my mum’s Memory Care nurse so she had all the info on mum’s past … my mum uses the timeline herself bless her. Only today she was reading over it and telling me stories about her life based on the timeline 🙂
I also have one framed on her bedroom wall with photos from each stage of her life and Ive found that really helps her.
Thank you for sharing this Heather. It’s so interesting to here how it has benefited your mum as well. I tend to think of it helping caregivers, and forget how it can also help the individual 🙂