Under-diagnosis of depression can lead to insufficient treatment and to an increase in symptom severity; however, over-diagnosis may mean that patients receive unneeded medications, which may have adverse side-effects. For this reason, it is particularly important to learn to recognize the symptoms of depression, Alzheimer’s, and dementia to identify each disorder by differential diagnosis.

Depression, Alzheimer’s, and Dementia: Shared Symptoms

One challenge to clinicians, professional caregivers, and family members are the similarities between depression, Alzheimer’s, and dementia symptoms. Among seniors, early-stage dementia, Alzheimer’s, and depression can result in:

• Memory deficits
• Withdrawal from social life
• Loss of interest in family, hobbies, etc.
• Inability to concentrate for sustained periods
• Changes in sleep patterns (over- or under-sleeping)

Reaching a complete and accurate diagnosis often depends on going beyond these initial observations and looking deeper into an individual’s complete clinical picture.

Recognizing Dementia or Alzheimer’s

While the causes of cognitive decline among seniors are not fully understood, common symptoms can include:

• Memory loss
• Confusion
• Difficulty in performing activities of daily living (cooking, dressing, bathing, toileting).

Worsening cognitive decline can prove frustrating and disheartening to those with dementia or Alzheimer’s—making it harder for them to keep up with conversations, remember daily routines, make shopping lists, follow recipes, etc. Together, feelings of frustration or disconnection can have negative effects on mood, often spawning depressive episodes. While depressive episodes among seniors with dementia or Alzheimer’s may be less severe or of shorter duration, they should be taken seriously in any care plan.

Recognizing Depression

Unlike dementia and Alzheimer’s, depression is a mood disorder, with symptoms that are largely identified via a person’s affect. Depression sufferers tend to exhibit similar symptoms, which may include:
• Persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness
• Persistent feelings of worthlessness
• Loss of pleasure in daily activities or interests
• Social isolation
• Reduced appetite or food consumption
• Sleep disturbances
• Agitation or irritability
• Fatigue
• Suicidal thoughts
Understanding these symptoms and learning to recognize them can help guide informed treatment decisions.

Confounding Factors

Reaching a clear diagnosis can often be confounded by other factors. These can include an elder’s prior medical history, lack of proper nutrition, and unanticipated interactions between prescribed medications.  In addition, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and depression can present concomitantly in the same patient, making diagnosis more challenging. And many patients with more advanced dementia or Alzheimer’s may find it difficult to articulate their feelings. Taken together, these factors emphasize the need to evaluate an individual’s complete clinical picture when refining a diagnosis. 

How an In-Home Caregiver Can Help

As we age, we often need assistance in performing daily tasks such as shopping or preparing meals. An in-home caregiver can help independently living seniors meet these challenges in an autonomous setting. Plus, an in-home caregiver has the opportunity to observe each client in the comfortable and familiar surroundings of the home.

An aide can see how each client performs daily activities and can assess areas in need of help. For example, a home caregiver may notice that a client has lost interest in reading or knitting. They may notice food going spoiled in the fridge, or appointments missed on the calendar. These markers can help build a complete picture of the client’s daily life, mood, and cognitive challenges. From this unique viewpoint, an in-home caregiver can provide invaluable support, as well as keeping family members and medical personnel informed of any changes in a client’s mood or cognitive abilities. 

We hope you find this article helpful. At 5 Star Home Care, we remain committed to supporting both the physical and emotional needs of each client we serve. If you or someone you love is an independently living senior in need of in-home assistance, we’re here to help. 

5 Star Home Care serves the Philadelphia metro area, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. Contact us today, and discover what peace of mind feels like. Contact us today.

The post Depression Masking Dementia—Recognizing the Signs appeared first on 5 Star Home Care.

Clearing clutter

Clutter around common areas and especially on stairs and steps is one of the easiest ways for an elderly person to fall. Remove any unnecessary or large items in these spaces to reduce the chances of a loved one falling in the home. Keep electric cords and wires out of any walking paths, and make sure carpets and rugs are secured to the floor. To reduce the amount of extra items in the home, donate or trash anything that the homeowner doesn’t use often.

Good lighting

Dark hallways and staircases can be difficult for someone with bad eyesight to navigate. Make sure lightbulbs in these spaces are bright and routinely replaced. Think about spaces in the home that could use extra lamps or additional lighting features, and consider investing in those. Companion caretakers can help identify any spaces that may need better or replacement lighting.

Rails and grab bars

Installing bed rails and shower grab bars is extremely helpful for helping elderly individuals navigate some of the most frequently used spaces in the home. Hard surfaces in the bathroom make falls extremely dangerous, and it can be easy to lose balance on a slippery surface. If any staircases don’t have handrails — this is particularly common for basement stairs — consider having those installed.

Easy access

Making sure the most commonly used items in the home are easily accessible will help prevent unnecessary and dangerous actions, such as reaching or using chairs to grab objects that are high up. This is especially common in the kitchen, so assess the area and consult with the homeowner about what they most often need to access to make sure those items are easily within reach.

Emergency contacts

Companion care in Philadelphia can help ensure a loved one is looked after throughout the day if a family member is unavailable to be around at all hours. Get to know the neighbors, and have their phone numbers written down somewhere so that they can check in periodically. Additionally, write down any other emergency phone numbers and have them somewhere accessible for the homeowner. If they aren’t in the habit of carrying a cell phone, or don’t have one, consider investing in one to ensure they can contact 911 in the event of a fall.

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Memory Loss And Dementia

Although the internet can offer rewarding and fun activities for seniors, some of them might be suffering from dementia or short-term memory loss. They, therefore, need to be supervised by a care provider to ensure that they don’t end up in hazardous situations. Seniors might divulge personal information to strangers, overspend, or forget how to use computers. They will, therefore, benefit from compassionate assisted expertise to help them stay safe while online.

Safeguarding Personal Information

Each time people go online, they meet strangers from all over the world since the internet traverses geographic boundaries. If a person gets scammed by a fraudster in the same region, law enforcers may apprehend the culprit. However, if that individual lives thousands of miles away, it might be hard. This is why caregivers need to safeguard the personal information of the seniors under their care using means that encrypt the sending or receipt of messages especially when it involves individuals who might be vulnerable to fraudsters or sensitive online transactions.

Using a Password Protection Program

There are numerous programs that help people update and remember their passwords. Such software will help any senior to surf the internet without the need of re-entering different passwords at different websites. All they need to remember is the master password. These programs also keep updating the passwords at intervals thus, promoting security.

Avoid Clicking On Links

Seniors should be educated to refrain from clicking links in their emails from government agencies, banks, or credit card companies unless they are 100% sure that they are from legitimate sources. Phishing is a common scam that happens online. It involves a person sending a link of a legitimately looking website to an unsuspecting victim just to steal login and personal information. Even when the company name appears as part of the web address,it could still be a scam, and seniors need to know this to refrain from opening such links.

Using Monitoring Software with the Senior’s Permission

It might be hard to determine if a senior with memory problems can benefit from direct supervision when using the internet. If a senior citizen permits, caregivers can consult with an attorney or physician and install a monitoring program that allows a review of their online activities.

Although the software was originally intended to help parents monitor their children’s online activities, they can also be used with seniors. They make it possible to block inappropriate or dangerous sites and keep a record of all the web pages that users have visited. With such programs, caregivers can make sure that the seniors do not get mistreated online.

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Many individuals may be far too busy to spend the time to sit and talk with their aging family members, but this is a major mistake. Children and even adults mistakenly see their elderly seniors as unreasonable or unrelatable and that is why they do not spend as much time with them as they can. The truth is that seniors are often very misunderstood.

A good way to look at this would be for one to examine their own behavior when they are healthy and when they are sick. Even when a person is just down with a headache or the flu then everything around them seems to slow down and it can be hard to make oneself feel happy and optimistic. Elderly individuals are often suffering many physical problems, and their brain has begun to age as well so it isn’t as fast as it once.

If one wants to get along with their senior family member, the first step is to understand that their physical and mental capacity is different from one’s own. However, elderly individuals have a wealth of knowledge and experience that they can give and that’s why they are always offering advice. Elderly family members often spend a large part of their day alone so they re determined to share their stories as often as they can.

Suffering from physical pain and loneliness can often make elderly individuals feel upset and that’s something the younger generation has to understand and try to rectify. When we were small our parents and grandparents gave an arm and a leg to get us to where were today. It only makes sense to help them when they need it most.

Elderly individuals often suffer from a host of mental problems as well due to their aging brain. A person needs to keep this in perspective and when dealing with seniors understand that they are going through a lot and that’s why it’s okay if they are not always very jolly or easy to be around.

The cycle of life entails that as the breadwinner turns into the one that needs to be cared for, the younger family members need to step up to the plate and become the breadwinner and be as understanding as possible.

The post Understanding Your Senior Family Member appeared first on 5 Star Home Care.

There are a lot of things that caregivers provide when coming to visit. For example, many of them help prepare meals and keep the home in order for the client, and others can help with transportation to important places such as the store or a doctor appointment. This can help give your parent the time to get out and do things without being stressed about keeping their home clean, and the mode of transportation gives them a little more freedom than if they were stuck at home alone all day.

As the name suggests, a companion care specialist also provides companionship to elderly people in their own homes. Some people may not be up for leaving the house; however, they will still get lonely without someone around while you are at work all day. Part of a caregiver’s job is to give them something to do to distract their minds, including joining them in hobbies they may have enjoyed doing when they were younger.

There are many reasons that family members may choose an option such as this one for their elderly parents. One potential reason is that, despite the desire to provide care for them, many working-age adults simply cannot be home all day taking care of their loved ones because they have to leave and earn a living. Another reason you may choose this route is if you do not live close enough to your elderly parent to spend the time with them that they would like and you need someone there to fill the gaps. No matter what your reasoning, you should not feel guilty about hiring someone else to come and keep your family members company and take care of them, because overall it benefits everyone involved.

When it comes time for a senior to stop being able to be completely independent, there are a few different options. Where some may choose to go with a nursing home, others may instead enjoy the benefits of companion care services for their loved ones. This can allow for the senior to stay in their own home while still getting the amount of attention that they need in order to be happy and healthy.

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