7 Tips for Care of Alzheimer’s Patients With Diabetes
It’s difficult enough when you family member has no health problems other than Alzheimer’s But when there are other issues, such as diabetes, their care becomes more complex for family caregivers and for staff at a nursing home.
Here are 7 tips which hopefully will make diabetes care for Alzheimer’s patients a bit easier:
1. Learn about diabetic diets, especially if you’re the one preparing the food.
2. Learn about your family member’s medical needs.
3. When your family member resides in a nursing home, make sure you note this on the forms you fill out. Diabetes should show up in their health records, but be sure you have it documented.
4. Coordinate with caregivers at the nursing home and make sure they know your family member has diabetes. Monitor diet at a nursing home or with a caregiver in the patient’s home.
5. You’ll find a diabetic becomes forgetful about medications and diet. They eventually won’t know why their diet is restricted and may rebel against this. So..don’t take it personally when the patient gets upset with you as they lose the ability to comprehend diet and medication.
6. Seek advice from the patient’s physician about their care. Being informed makes it easier to cope.
7. Remember you aren’t expected to know and do everything, only the best you can.
When I cared for Mother and Auntie, both of whom had Alzheimer’s, I had some experience with diabetes. Although Mother didn’t experience this complication, her sister, Auntie, was a diabetic. When she lived with Mother and I cared for both of them there, I had to watch Auntie’s diet. For some reason, she craved sweets like she never had before.
Mother was concerned and tried to control Auntie’s diet when I had to return to my home in another state. However, because she was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s herself, she wasn’t always aware what Auntie ate…or managed to sneak from cupboard to her room.
However, we must have managed fairly well, in spite of not being perfect (see tip #7 above), because Auntie lived to be 88 years old.
(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen
Tags: Alzheimers, alzheimers-care, alzheimers-caregivers, alzheimers-caregiving, Alzheimers-disease, diabetes, diabetes-awareness, elder+careRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Care, Caregivers, Family History, Personal Caregiving Experiences
3 opinions for 7 Tips for Care of Alzheimer’s Patients With Diabetes
Sue
Dec 18, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Alzheimers’ on the Rise. New Book Helps Caregivers.
On one side are millions of people suffering with
Alzheimer�s.
On the other side are 50 million caregivers in the
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In the middle is a woman on a mission.
Bonnie McGovern is a leading advocate for caregivers caring for a loved one. She�s written a book titled Taking Care of Barbara A Journey Through Life and Alzheimer�s and 29 Insights for Caregivers. The book was inspired by a real life story Bonnie experienced while caring for her sister 10 years.
In the book readers will learn:
* Secrets to maintaining the patient�s hygiene
* An amazing strategy on how the caregiver can stay healthy (40% of caregivers die before the person they care for)
* What are the 3 stages of Alzheimer�s
* What are the 2 most important documents caregivers must have
* What to do when a loved one passes over
Jean
Jun 15, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Thank you Mary Emma - especially for #7.
Healthy & Not-So-Healthy Foods from the Food Bloggers
Jun 17, 2008 at 1:06 am
[…] for Alzheimer’s patients who also have this disease can be a challenge. Check out these Seven Tips for Care of Alzheimer’s Patients with Diabetes at Alzheimer’s […]
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