How to Have Patience with Alzheimer’s and Dementia Patients (2)

Knowing all of the bad things, how does one go about developing patience? Is there some simple method? In a word, the answer is no. Developing patience takes time, but there is a method to do it. First, remember to take every day one at a time. When you’re with an Alzheimer’s patient, take each activity one at a time. Make sure that two activities don’t rely on each other. That way, if the first activity doesn’t work out, you’ll still have the second one to go to. Next, make sure that you’re accepting the reality of the situation you’re in. When you’re with an Alzheimer’s patient, you have to learn to accept the limitations that the disease has placed on them. Don’t give them more than they can handle. Now is not the time to see how far you can push somebody, as you’ll both just end up frustrated.

In developing patience, make sure you’re not worrying about the past or the future. If the Alzheimer’s patient did something wrong in the past, you need to learn to let it go. Also, you can’t worry about how they will act in the future, or if they’ll get to where you want them to be. Every time you’re with them, let it be a new start for the both of you.

Help the Alzheimer’s patient to break down the larger goal into smaller ones. For example, if you were trying to build a house of cars, would you simply say, “It has to be 3 feet high”, and then start to build it just to be that high? No, sure you wouldn’t. You would start by putting two cards together, then adding another two, so on and so forth. Remember to strive to achieve all the little goals, and celebrate each one with the patient.

From time to time when a person is attempting to help an Alzheimer’s patient they just become too controlling. Don’t be that person. You have to learn to hand over some control to the patient, and then simply let go. Let them bring about whatever it is at their own pace. The more you rush them, the worse the outcome will be.

Patience with Alzheimer’s patients may be very difficult to have, but there is a reason why patience is a virtue. Do your best to achieve that virtue, and your life and the patient’s life will be better for it.