The Cottages Blog

Caring for your loved one living with dementia can be overwhelming and exhausting. Though you may feel as though your loved one is your top priority, failing to care for yourself and deal with your stress appropriately can take a toll on your own health, relationships and state of mind. Taking care of yourself allows you to be a better caregiver for your loved one.

Familiarity with schedule and settings is often important for people with dementia. Organization of daily activities can help reduce agitation and frustration for your loved one living with dementia. Daily plans are helpful both for you, the caregiver, as well as your loved one. Creating a daily plan is one way you can help reduce stress and may help improve your loved one’s mood.

Providing care for a family member or friend who is living with Alzheimer’s disease is a labor of love. The job, however, is a 24-hour commitment that can take its toll on caregivers. As the disease progresses, caregivers often find their daily tasks become more difficult, emotions can run high and the sense of loss as a loved one’s memory fades may be profound.

Entrusting the care of a loved one who is living with Alzheimer’s disease to someone else – even for a short respite break – can be difficult. After all, as a spouse, partner, child or grandchild, the primary caregiver likely has a strong, personal connection to the person and a deep desire to ensure that care is of the highest quality.