Personal Advice About a Parent with Alzheimers

Onset of Alzheimers in elderly parents is not easily recognized. Personally I feel that depression is one of the first noticible signs, often brought on by death of a loved one (In my Mothers case she lost a husband and 9 year old grandson within 40 days of each other.) She chose to move to a small apartment to make a new start but the change seemed to sink her into deeper depression. If I could change anything I'd have tried to keep her in her own familiar environment.

Lack of mental challenge seems to contribute to its onset. Encourage elderly to read or to sew or quilt or bring them puzzles, anything they have an interest in to keep their mind challanged. The hardest thing I found, as did many of our family is recognizing that the remarks they make or the strange things they may do are not typical of the parent that we are used to.

Don't take things personally. They really have no control over the personality changes they are going through. You MUST keep this in the back of your mind. Hopefully someday there will be help for those elderly suffering from this disease. I hope this article will offer some helpful advice to others who may be living through this and maybe my experience can benefit someone else.

By Sharon,Ky