What to Do After Your Loved One Has Been Diagnosed with Dementia

If your loved one has recently been diagnosed with dementia, this can be difficult for everyone in the family. Dementia is a disease that should not be taken lightly. It can take your loved one and turn them upside down. If you are in this situation, there are some things that you may want to do after finding out about their dementia diagnosis.

Home Health Care in Murray UT: Senior Dementia

Educating Yourself on the Disease

One of the first things that you might want to do after finding out that your loved one has dementia is to educate yourself on the disease. Learn all that you can about dementia – what the stages are, how your loved one might behave, etc. The more you can learn about the disease, the more you can understand what your loved one is or will be going through.

Coping with Emotions

You and your loved one might experience a wide range of emotions after finding out they have dementia. Feelings including anger, sadness, fear, and others have been seen in people who are diagnosed with dementia and in their loved ones, as well. It is important to learn how to cope with these emotions, instead of letting them take hold of you. The better you and your loved one can learn to cope with the emotions tied to the dementia diagnosis, the smoother things can go.

Sharing the News

While a dementia diagnosis might not be something that you want everyone to know about, it is important that those who are going to be dealing with your loved one have knowledge of the diagnosis. This includes other loved ones, friends, caregivers, and others that your loved one might come into contact with.

Future Planning

After a dementia diagnosis, it is important that you help your loved one to plan for the future. In time, they are going to lose more and more of their memories. This is going to be tough on them and their loved ones. Ask your loved one how they want to proceed since they got their diagnosis. There might be some things that they need to get in order before they start losing more of their memory. It is important to honor their wishes.

These are some of the things to do after your loved one has been diagnosed with dementia. If your loved one doesn’t already have caregivers, it would be helpful to get them at least one. The caregivers can assist in their care throughout the progression of the disease.

Are you or a loved one considering hiring Home Health Care in Murray, 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
Nia.nih.gov