Anthem Senior Gardens

Dementia is a progressive disease that slowly robs people of their abilities. The fact that it’s very difficult for families to witness their loved one or someone they know slipping away into the grips of Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of dementia) is indisputable. In fact, for family members, finding ways to protect their loved one’s dignity is one of the biggest struggles presented by Alzheimer’s disease. With the progression of the disease, the senior loses the ability to care for themselves. They may not even realize they need a shower or their hair is unkempt. As the disease advances and memory and communication skills become impaired, protecting an adult with Alzheimer’s becomes more difficult for families. There are steps a family member (spouses, adult children, and grandchildren) can take to help their older adult maintain his or her dignity and quality of life. Here are a few ways you can help your senior loved one with Alzheimer’s preserve their dignity: Do not...

  Dementia care requires caregivers to have a deep commitment to empathy and compassion, and an immense amount of patience. Not to mention, excellent dementia care requires taking caregiving approaches that are uniquely tailored to people who have dementia. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, which is a brain disease with symptoms including memory loss, personality changes, impaired reasoning, and extreme mood swings. Caring for someone with dementia poses many challenges. As the disease progresses, it becomes more and more difficult for individuals to remember things, think clearly, communicate with others, and take care of themselves. This blog offers some practical strategies for dealing with the troubling behavior problems and communication difficulties often encountered when caring for a person afflicted with dementia. These approaches to dementia care below by the award-winning Anthem Senior Living in Phoenix demonstrate how to provide high-quality care to so...

  Dementia is the term given to a group of diseases that affect an individual’s cognitive functioning, including their ability to think, remember, and reason, to perform everyday tasks. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is commonly thought of as an older person’s disease, but it can affect people of all ages. The early symptoms of dementia tends to vary between people, forgetfulness being a symptom that most people are familiar with, confusion being the other most talked about symptom. A person with dementia, initially, may not even notice a problem, since everybody forgets things from time to time or in finding the right word for familiar things, especially as one grows old. According to the National Institute on Aging, half of people over the age of 85 may have some form of dementia. This in no way means dementia is a natural part of the aging process. Dementia is one of main reasons behind older adults losing their independence. The key is early...

  According to research, 80 percent of U.S. dementia cases are caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Caring for someone suffering from the disease can be challenging, more so as the disease progresses since dementia is a progressive loss of mental function, and the term describes a group of conditions that damages the brain cells, which changes (or damages) the individual’s ability to remember, think, speak, and to carry out everyday tasks. With each passing day, the changes become greater thereby increasing the person’s need for more help and assistance. Common Symptoms - Short term memory loss; difficulty completing familiar/regular tasks; disorientation; problems communicating; personality changes; loss of initiative; misplacing things; and mood swings. The 4 stages of dementia are 1.       Mild cognitive impairment 2.       Mild dementia 3.       Moderate dementia 4.       S...

Taking care of someone suffering from Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia is a challenging proposition. Your older adult may be withdrawn and it can be difficult to find an activity or experience to engage with them. Today, many caregivers are incorporating activities based on the Montessori Method. The Montessori Method was developed in the early 20th century and is well-known for being used to successfully engage children, but this approach has also gained immense popularity with caregivers of parents and senior loved ones with dementia. The Montessori Method places an emphasis on engaging the senses of hearing, seeing, touching, smelling and tasting in an attempt to help seniors with the disease find ways to reconnect with the world. The method can reduce anxiety for people with dementia by providing them with engaging activities (activities are simple, modifiable, and practical), giving them the strength to cope with everyday life. The Montessori approach stresses giving ol...

There may have been incidences where you have misplaced the car keys, forgotten to reply to an email, or simply forgotten about purpose of your visit to a grocery store in terms of the things you had visited the store for to purchase. Forgetfulness is common, and with age subtle changes in memory occur naturally as part of the aging process. But there is a point when forgetfulness is more worrisome to the extent that it can prevent us from performing daily tasks and our accustomed roles in life, which then would require further evaluation by medical professionals. According to doctors, certain changes in our memory our perfectly normal as we grow older, which might as well be due to a medication side effect or combinations of medications or an existing or developing health problem like anxiety, depression, heart disease, etc., head injury, thyroid disease, infections in the brain, blood clots, dehydration, or vitamin deficiency. Identifying and treating the condition can improve you...

Exercise is a vital element of healthful lifestyle; it helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, strengthens the bones and muscles, and helps reduce stress. It also appears that exercise benefits the brain. In recent years, a growing body of evidence suggests that regular physical activity can be beneficial for those living with the Alzheimer’s disease, potentially slowing or reversing the progression of symptoms (in people who already have toxic buildups of beta-amyloid protein). According to studies, people who are physically active are less likely to experience a decline in their mental function, and possibly have improved thinking among people with vascular cognitive impairment. Alzheimer’s is a chronic progressive disease, and its treatment goes beyond well just medications to preserve cognitive function and the quality of life. Reality orientation training, caregiver support, and other non-drug interventions can be highly beneficial for those living wi...