A person with early dementia experience things such as short term memory loss, confusion, and depression.As dementia progresses it takes away abilities to hold conversations or explain things properly. We as caregivers have to fully understand this and go the extra mile in trying to figure out what exactly are they trying to tell us.
As a caregiver for a few years, I have learned so much. I've learned that even though it seem as though the person may seem to be talking out of their head, they may be really trying to tell you something important but can't express themselves with words.They may repeat the same sentence for days and we may blow it off as senile talk.
I remember there being an old lady in a nursing home trying to tell the staff what was wrong with her, but just didn't know how. For days she would shout loudly that she wanted them to" take the baby out of her because it hurt." The more she shouted this the more the staff blew it off. It really became a joke among the staff members.They knew the lady wasn't pregnant so they saw no reason to be concerned.
A few days later one of the staff member was going over the lady charts and found something very interesting. It had appeared, according to the charts, that the lady had not had a bowel movement for a few days. Over and over she had been trying to tell the staff for days that she needed to use the bathroom but could not think of the right words.
So even though it seemed as though she was talking senile, she was really trying to say what was wrong with her. As a caregiver, don't just think a person is talking nonsense, especially if they repeat the same statements. Go the extra mile to see if there is something they are really trying to tell you.It is amazing what you may be able to figure out.
As a caregiver for a few years, I have learned so much. I've learned that even though it seem as though the person may seem to be talking out of their head, they may be really trying to tell you something important but can't express themselves with words.They may repeat the same sentence for days and we may blow it off as senile talk.
I remember there being an old lady in a nursing home trying to tell the staff what was wrong with her, but just didn't know how. For days she would shout loudly that she wanted them to" take the baby out of her because it hurt." The more she shouted this the more the staff blew it off. It really became a joke among the staff members.They knew the lady wasn't pregnant so they saw no reason to be concerned.
A few days later one of the staff member was going over the lady charts and found something very interesting. It had appeared, according to the charts, that the lady had not had a bowel movement for a few days. Over and over she had been trying to tell the staff for days that she needed to use the bathroom but could not think of the right words.
So even though it seemed as though she was talking senile, she was really trying to say what was wrong with her. As a caregiver, don't just think a person is talking nonsense, especially if they repeat the same statements. Go the extra mile to see if there is something they are really trying to tell you.It is amazing what you may be able to figure out.
