Jim, Author at Senior Care Central

Suggestions for Problems with Bathing in Persons with Dementia

Caring for a person with dementia can be challenging. Helping with bathing and personal hygiene can be increasingly hard as the disease gets worse. The person with dementia may be resistant to bathing or getting dressed. Each person should have an individualized plan of care related to bathing and maintaining good personal hygiene. Here are some general approaches to address resistance to bathing.

Remain calm.
Use a soft voice.
Choose a time when the person is most rested and least confused.
Consider the person’s lifelong preferences:
Shower vs. bath
Morning vs. evening
Maintain a leisurely pace. Avoid rushing the person.
Give pain medications at least half an hour before bathing if pain with movement is an issue.
Allow the person to wear underwear or a loose-fitting housecoat/duster/gown if desired.
Avoid spraying water directly on the head or face.
Pantomime the desired hygiene activities.
Use distraction: conversation, snacks, or music.
When complete, give praise for clean appearance.

Adapted from Schwartzkopf, C. E. & Twigg, P. (2014). Nursing management of dementia. In K. L. Mauk’s (Ed.) Gerontological Nursing: Competencies for Care. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Used with permission.

Problems with Bathing in Persons with Dementia

By Jim|2016-11-26T18:46:36-05:00November 10th, 2015|News Posts|Comments Off

Suggestions for Managing Aggression in Persons with Dementia

Caring for a person with dementia can be challenging. Often, negative behaviors are symptoms of the disease process, but they could also be from unmet needs. Caregivers should look for any triggers of negative behaviors and address them directly. For example, if a person becomes agitated every time she needs to use the toilet, then a regular toileting schedule could be started. Look for clues in the person’s behavior. Care for behavioral symptoms of dementia needs to be individualized based on examining the entire picture of personal and environmental factors (such as living situation and what is going on around them). However, some general approaches to managing certain behaviors can be helpful. Here are some suggestions for managing agitation or aggression:

Avoid provoking situations.
Intervene early, before the behavior escalates.
Remain calm.
Speak in a soft voice.
Approach slowly from the front.
Avoid startling the person.
Stay at the eye level of the person.
Avoid touching initially; wait until the person is calmer.
Distract the person by talking about something pleasant.
Avoid rational arguments.
Avoid physical restraint if at all possible.
Identify and address unmet needs (food, fluid, toileting).

Adapted from Schwartzkopf, C. E. & Twigg, P. (2014). Nursing management of dementia. In K. L. Mauk’s (Ed.) Gerontological Nursing: Competencies for Care. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Used with permission.

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By Jim|2016-11-26T18:47:16-05:00October 7th, 2015|News Posts|Comments Off

Guest Blog: How to Create a Small Family Tree Template

Studying your family history can be a complicated process, especially if you want to go back as far as possible or trace different branches of the family tree. Creating a template for your family tree is one way to organize information and break it down into sections that are easy to manage. Begin with a small template that is limited to three or four generations.

The Benefits of a Small Family Tree

When organizing your information, it can be easier to find people you are searching for or recognize their relationships with each other if you use small templates. Choose a person and trace his or her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Fill in the information as you discover it and it won’t seem as overwhelming as with a large template of numerous generations when most of them would be blank.

Choosing the Right Template

You can search online and find all kinds of templates. Some will work better for your purpose than others. If you are tracing your family’s genealogy, you won’t need to include photos, but you will want space to write information about each person. Create a template with the person’s name and lines for the birthdate, date of death and marriage date.

It may be helpful to list locations for each of those events or other relevant information that you may need in your research. One of the reasons that a small three- or four-generation template is ideal is that it leaves you extra space to write more.

Entering Information

While you want to have easy access to the most important information about your ancestors, especially if you are traveling, do not try to include every tidbit about your family members. It will clutter up the template and make it difficult to read. Instead, keep it short and simple. Abbreviate as much as possible. For instance, date of birth would be DOB, date of death would be DOD and so on.

Consider using an online template where you can type the information instead of hand-writing it. This allows you to make changes or even erase information or people as you need to without having to start all over with a blank template.

Store your family tree online as well so that you can easily access it if you are traveling and need to look up information as you research. This also makes it easy to print or email a copy of the tree to others who may be helping you in your research.

The most important thing in choosing a template for your small family tree is to find one that works for you. It should fit your needs, be easy to use and look appealing to you.

If you are beginning your research into your family history, start with finding the right family tree template. It makes it much easier to record and keep track of data. Plus, it is fun to share with others who share your interest in genealogy.

Suzie Kolber created http://obituarieshelp.org/free_printable_blank_family_tree.html to be the complete online resource for “do it yourself” genealogy projects. The site offers the largest offering of <a href=”http://obituarieshelp.org/free_printable_blank_family_tree.html”>free family tree templates</a> online. The site is a not for profit website dedicated to offering free resources for those that are trying to trace their family history.