Question

Consider a person diagnosed with Middle-Stage Alzheimer’s living at home. List 5 safety measures to use in this person’s home. Explain why each safety measure is appropriate with specific references to behavioural, cognitive and sensory changes experienced by a person with Middle-Stage Alzheimer’s. (10 marks)

Answer 1

People with Alzheimer's can live in their homes, as long as safety measures are in place. As Alzheimer's progresses, a person's abilities change. But with some creativity and problem solving, you can adapt the home environment to support these changes.

Alzheimer's disease causes a number of changes in the brain and body that may affect safety. Depending on the stage of the disease, these can include:

Judgment: forgetting how to use household appliances

Sense of time and place: getting lost on one's own street

Behavior: becoming easily confused, suspicious or fearful

Physical ability: having trouble with balance

Evaluate your environment. A person with dementia may be at risk in certain areas of the home or outdoors. Pay special attention to garages, work rooms, basements and outside areas where there are more likely to be tools, chemicals, cleaning supplies and other items that may require supervision.

Avoid safety hazards in the kitchen. Install a hidden gas valve or circuit breaker on the stove so a person with dementia cannot turn it on. Consider removing the knobs. Use appliances that have an auto shut-off feature. Keep them away from water sources such as sinks. Remove decorative fruits, sugar substitutes and seasonings from the table and counters.

Be prepared for emergencies. Keep a list of emergency phone numbers and addresses for local police and fire departments, hospitals and poison control helplines.

Make sure safety devices are in working order. Have working fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.

Install locks out of sight. Place deadbolts either high or low on exterior doors to make it difficult for the person to wander out of the house.

Keep an extra set of keys hidden near the door for easy access. Remove locks in bathrooms or bedrooms so the person cannot get locked inside.
Keep walkways well-lit. Add extra lights to entries, doorways, stairways, areas between rooms, and bathrooms.

Use night lights in hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms to prevent accidents and reduce disorientation.
Remove and disable guns or other weapons. The presence of a weapon in the home of a person with dementia may lead to unexpected danger. Dementia can cause a person to mistakenly believe that a familiar caregiver is an intruder.

Place medications in a locked drawer or cabinet. To help ensure that medications are taken safely, use a pill box organizer or keep a daily list and check off each medication as it is taken.
Remove tripping hazards. Keep floors and other surfaces clutter-free. Remove objects such as magazine racks, coffee tables and floor lamps.

Watch the temperature of water and food. It may be difficult for the person with dementia to tell the difference between hot and cold. Consider installing an automatic thermometer for water temperature.

Avoid injury in the bathroom. Install walk-in showers. Add grab bars to the shower or tub and at the edge of the vanity to allow for independent, safe movement. Add textured stickers to slippery surfaces. Apply adhesives to keep throw rugs and carpeting in place, or remove rugs completely.

Assess safety hazards in the garage and/or basement. Secure hand and power tools including equipment such as lawn mowers and weed trimmers. Keep poisonous chemicals such as gasoline, spray paint and paint thinner out of reach. Install a garage door safety sensor.

Support the person's needs. Try not to create a home that feels too restrictive. The home should encourage independence and social interaction. Clear areas for activities

SENSORY Changes experience by them and how to manage it.

Sight

As seniors age, vision-related changes start to happen as a result of their hindered capacity to decipher what they see. Vision-related changes can be caused because of the adjustments in the cerebrum, which can make seniors lose their capacity to appreciate what or who is before them and may likewise modify their feeling of profundity discernment.

Keep floor and divider hues extraordinary. Strong, differentiating hues are less befuddling to the eye.

Place brilliantly hued tape on the edges of steps so your adored one can see changes in stature.

Place pictures on entryways of imperative rooms, for example, the restroom and the room.

Smell

This is a standout amongst the most unsafe tactile changes that happen with Alzheimer's or different types of dementia. Feeling of smell alarms individuals of smoke and flames, gas spills or if sustenance is ruined. As feeling of smell frequently decreases with Alzheimer's and dementia, it's vital to do the accompanying:

Ensure that smoke indicators are introduced and that the batteries are great.

In the event that your adored one cooks with gas or warms with gas, ensure there is a gas identifier.

Discard any sustenance that is outdated. On the off chance that you believe it's faulty, toss it out.

It can buy nourishment holders with a dial showing the date sustenance is never again great to eat.

Taste

Affectability to taste decreases in those with Alzheimer's and different types of dementia. This can make numerous seniors abuse salt, sugar or different flavors so as to make sustenance progressively classy. This can be hindering to their wellbeing. Those with dementia can likewise start to put arbitrary articles into their mouths or they may attempt to eat things that are not sustenance. To help battle this, attempt these recommendations:

Place salt, sugar or different toppings in spots that are more enthusiastically to see. Out of the picture, therefore irrelevant.

Bolt up toothpastes, shampoos or other scented items, as they may attempt to eat them.

Childproof keeps can keep them out of cupboards and wardrobes where conceivably noxious things are.

Contact

As Alzheimer's or different types of dementia advance, the loss of sensation happens. this makes seniors never again have the capacity to decipher warmth, cold, or uneasiness. Your adored one might be less ready to recognize torment, also. To keep your cherished one safe, there are numerous things you can do, for example,

Make sure that water warmers are set to 120 degrees fahrenheit. This reductions consumes.

Attempt shading coding handles to spigots. Red for hot, blue for virus.

Never disregard your adored one to utilize machines. Unplug machines when they are not being used.

Cushion sharp edges of tables with corner covers, keep cuts distant.

Hearing

it's feasible for those with Alzheimer's or different types of dementia to have the capacity to have typical hearing, however not have the capacity to translate what they hear precisely. This can make them wind up scared, fomented and overstimulated. To keep this, attempt the accompanying tips:

Stay away from additional commotions, for example, the TV on in the meantime as the radio.

Watch out for how fomented your adored one moves toward becoming when out in broad daylight. In the event that there is a vast assembling or group and they can't deal with it, take your adored one home.

Guarantee their listening devices are working legitimately on the off chance that they utilize one, ensure the batteries are working.

Wellbeing, Love and Help When You Need it Most

Cognitive changes are most commonly is dementia

Propose helps for day by day working, for example, plan for the day, a schedule, and different updates. Innovation for medicine the board, wellbeing (e.g., crisis reaction, entryway cautions), and other consideration is likewise accessible.

Recommend customary physical movement, a solid eating regimen, social action, interests, and scholarly incitement, which may encourage moderate subjective decay

Behavioral changes include, irritation, depression, anxiety to deal with this do

Recognizing that the person is not just "acting mean or ornery," but is having further symptoms of the disease
Identifying the cause and how the symptom may relate to the experience of the person with Alzheimer's
Changing the environment to resolve challenges and obstacles to comfort, security and ease of mind

Coping tips

Monitor personal comfort. Check for pain, hunger, thirst, constipation, full bladder, fatigue, infections and skin irritation. Maintain a comfortable room temperature.
Avoid being confrontational or arguing about facts. For example, if a person expresses a wish to go visit a parent who died years ago, don't point out that the parent is dead. Instead, say, "Your mother is a wonderful person. I would like to see her too."
Redirect the person's attention. Try to remain flexible, patient and supportive by responding to the emotion, not the behavior.
Create a calm environment. Avoid noise, glare, insecure space and too much background distraction, including television.
Allow adequate rest between stimulating events.
Provide a security object.
Acknowledge requests, and respond to them.
Look for reasons behind each behavior. Consult a physician to identify any causes related to medications or illness.
Explore various solutions.
Don't take the behavior personally, and share your experiences with others.

Hope you found this helpful.