LITTLE THINGS ADD UP FOR DEMENTIA CARE
What caregivers should know
More advice to those of you still new to caregiving to someone with dementia, especially if you foresee this person eventually residing in long term care. Dental work, eye exams, hearing tests and the like need to be looked after and kept as current as possible.
Have spares of items such as eyeglasses, hearing aids, dental appliances. Some of these items will end up misplaced (lost) and some will wear out and need to be replaced.
It is also a good idea to have a spare electric shaver, if your husband uses one, exactly the same as the one he already uses.
Easy access clothing and footwear will become more important as the years go by and I recommend that, if possible, begin now to get your loved one accustomed to wearing clothing that is easy to get in to and out of.
My husband was never one to ever wear jogging or leisure pants, it was always jeans or khakis. But elastic waist pants will eventually be the best option, mainly to accommodate any possible increase or decrease in weight that may occur once they are in care.
It was a mostly exasperating experience, trying to find elastic waist pants that were not joggers or Joe Boxers, especially trying to find pants without a cuff. If I was ever to get lucky with finding these items it was at Winners or Value Village.
For my husband the reason for no cuff on the pants was because of his increasing rigidity, which made getting a foot through a cuff a frustrating exercise for anyone assisting him with dressing. Just like getting his foot in to a shoe. When a foot has lost its flexibility it becomes a struggle to get a shoe on it.
My husband liked Birkenstocks which was a good thing as they were his go-to footwear for the majority of his first years in care. Now the shape of his feet has changed and his Birkenstocks will no longer go on his feet. In the warmer months he wears a pair of sandals with velcro straps that completely open up the sandal for easy access. In the colder months he has a wonderful pair of warm knit slippers that somehow ended being his and no one knows just where they came from.
For shirts/tops anything stretchy is better. T-shirts, both short and long sleeve, work well unless rigidity sets in, then anything buttoned or zippered, but still stretchy, is best.
If your loved one is fussy about certain items they wear, say undergarments or socks, and it if is something that will continue to be useful in the upcoming years, stock up on them.
Then see if duplicates of favourite or most comfortable items, such as a pair of slippers, can still be purchased. That way any piece of clothing that wears out and needs to be replaced can be done so with something that is familiar, which could make all the difference in the world to whether your spouse will decide to wear it or not.
Lastly, learning how to light the pilot light in your gas fireplace, or how to use your washer and dryer, or any of the multitude of chores that were never yours to do, should become a priority while your spouse is still able to show you how they are done. And don’t forget about the seasonal tasks that get looked after, especially the ones that only need tending to once a year.
Learning how to manage all of this while there is still time will save you considerable frustration down the road when you are the one solely responsible for every last thing that needs to be taken care of around your home while, at the same time, also being the one solely responsible for caregiving to your spouse.
And a final bit of advice. If you watch TV and you are not intimately knowledgable about how your remote control(s) operate your TV then here is another task to get after.
I can absolutely guarantee that the time will come when all you want to do is simply sit and veg while you catch up on your favourite show, only to discover when you turn the TV on that no you are not. Some gremlin in your home has had their hands all over the remote and only a genius (you) is going to figure out how to undo that mischief.