Using Your Nose to Detect Signs Your Senior May Be Suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease

In your role as a family caregiver, you will use a wide variety of tools and skills to help ensure that you understand what your aging parent is facing and are able to give your parent. One that is often overlooked despite being immensely effective is simply using your senses. Focusing on what your senses can tell you about your aging parent and their condition can be immeasurably beneficial in keeping you up-to-date on their health and functioning, and enable you to get them the care that they need when they need it.

Elderly Care in Draper UT: Your Senses As A Caregiver

Use these tips to use your nose to detect signs that your senior may be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease:

• Pay attention to the smell of their home. A senior with Alzheimer’s disease might not be able to take on all of the tasks of taking care of their home, such as doing laundry or dishes or taking the trash out. They might no longer understand the need for these tasks or how to do them or think that they already have done them.

• Check for spoiled food. Seniors with Alzheimer’s disease are more vulnerable to foodborne illness and infection than younger people. One element of this is that they may no longer understand the importance of expiration dates and what they mean, so they may eat food after it is spoiled. They tend to also lose their acuity of taste and smell, making it less likely that they can tell if food is off. Smell around their kitchen for spoiled food, particularly food that is left out.

• Bring your parent in for a hug. Give your parent a hug and check them for body odor. Seniors with Alzheimer’s disease frequently avoid bathing or do not bathe often enough for a variety of reasons, and a strong body odor, particularly in a senior who has always been conscientious about their grooming, could be an indication of serious functional decline.

How can an elderly care service provider help?

If your parent has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or their challenges and symptoms have increased to the point that you feel they would benefit from additional care and support, now may be the ideal time to consider starting home care for them. Whether it is early in your parent’s progression with the disease or they have been coping with it for some time and have reached a more challenging stage, this in-home senior care services provider can make a tremendous difference in their life and the life of you as their family caregiver.

This care provider can step in to fill care gaps, provide services that enable you to take time away from your care efforts and focus on other obligations in your life, as well as yourself, and encourage your loved one to maintain a lifestyle that is more active, independent, and fulfilling throughout their progression.

Are you or a loved one considering hiring elderly care in Draper, UT? Please talk to the friendly staff at December Rose Senior Care at Home.
Providing Home Care in Highland, Utah and Surrounding Communities.
801-427-ROSE (7673)

Sources:
https://www.alz.org/facts/
https://alz.org/10-signs-symptoms-alzheimers-dementia.asp