Dementia Caregiving: Don’t take things personally!
cohealth blog
In this post from the CoHealth Blog, the blogger introduces Principle Number 9 of caring for someone with dementia. It deals with one of the hardest aspects of dementia caregiving – difficult behavior. Don’t take it personally; often that language or behavior is the dementia, not the person you’ve known and loved. Read on.
Principles of Behavior Management with Dementia – Don’t Take it Personally
It is easy to misunderstand or misinterpret the actions of someone with dementia, to wonder why he is saying hurtful things, or to feel offended when his interpersonal behavior and communications are so uncharacteristic for him. Whether in a residential setting or a nursing home, the effects of dementia can produce unpredictable and often offensive emotions, behaviors, and attitudes. Regardless of how long we may have known, loved, and cared for someone, there will be occasions when a coarse, crude comment, a striking out with a clenched fist, or a distasteful act like spitting is directed at the caregiver.
Posted on March 3, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: caregiver stress, Caregiving, family caregiving
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