If one of your elderly parents has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, you may feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You want your parent to be safe and well taken care of, but you want to avoid placing your parent in a nursing home as much as possible. You are not alone.
Every 66 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer's in the United States. As many as 15 million adults provide care to someone in their family who has dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. People with Alzheimer's tend to get confused and, sometimes, violent. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to make your home safe not only for your parent but for yourself and the rest of your family. Here's what you need to know.
Possible dangerous behaviors of people with Alzheimer's
Imagine what you would feel like if you were so confused you didn't know your name, where you were, or who the people around you are. Think about how frightening that would be. Sometimes, when people are frightened, a natural instinct called "fight or flight" kicks into gear. It sometimes causes people with Alzheimer's to become aggressive or paranoid. It can also cause them to wander away.
When this confusion occurs at the end of the day, it's called sundowning. While the exact cause of sundowning isn't known, it's believed to be attributed to things like fatigue, shadows, and the disruption of the circadian rhythm, which is your body's internal clock. Yes, you are likely feeling a bit overwhelmed right now and wondering how you will be able to manage it all. But the good news is that there are security systems and electronic devices that can help.
Home security systems and electronic devices to consider
Due to the behaviors someone with Alzheimer's may experience, it's crucial to use home security systems and electronic devices to help keep your entire family safe. With the wandering nature of someone with Alzheimer's, you'll definitely need to have electronic door locks and alarms on all exterior doors. That way, your parent will not be able to open the doors and get outside to wander off. If he or she does wander off, a GPS tracking device hidden in a watch or necklace can help you locate them so you can bring them back home.
It's also a good idea to have the exterior doors monitored by a security service. Notify the security service that you have an elderly parent with Alzheimer's and instruct them to contact you and the local police department if the door alarms are triggered. Someone in a confused and wandering state could easily be susceptible to dangerous situations.
You should also consider getting motion-detector lighting for inside and outside of your home. Inside your home, motion-detector lighting will activate as soon as motion is detected, such as when your parent gets out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Outside, motion-detector lighting can help you locate them faster if they do happen to get outdoors in the middle of the night.
Surveillance cameras in and around your home can also help you keep tabs on your parent without their being aware they are being watched. This helps to reduce the risks of paranoia. The cameras can be connected to your mobile devices so you can keep watch over your parent while you are attending to chores in other areas of the home, such as in the laundry room, or when you are running errands and someone else is at home with your parent.
Talk to a company such as Tele-Plus for more information about these security systems.
Share2 November 2016
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