When you or a family member has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, one of the more difficult topics to consider is where they should continue living. Many people worry about having to move into residential care, which can affect their daily routines and independence. Home care is an excellent alternative that allows people to keep living their lives as they want.
Home care offers several benefits to individuals and their loved ones. Today, we’ll explore the benefits of staying in your own home when you have Alzheimer’s.
1. Remain In a Comfort and Safe Environment
Staying in your own home can give an individual with Alzheimer’s an essential sense of security and comfort. Their own homes are likely to be full of furniture and decorations that they picked out, familiar noises and smells, and comforting quirks that just feel like ‘home’.
Loved ones and professional carers can work together to create a dementia-friendly home environment, ensuring that you’re as safe as possible while remaining at home. Live-in dementia carers or family assistance can help you with physical health and safety concerns.
Common symptoms of Alzheimer’s include memory loss and confusion. While these symptoms can’t be avoided, being surrounded by a safe, comforting environment can make them a little less daunting to deal with.
2. Tailored One-to-One Care
At-home Alzheimer’s care can be highly personalised and tailored to the individual. At Trinity Homecare, we’ll sit down with you and your loved ones to curate the perfect dementia care plan. All of our plans are treated as living documents, allowing them to be adapted as symptoms progress and care needs change.
A home care plan can contain as much useful information as possible, including your loved one’s preferences, personality, hobbies, culture and beliefs. All of this information can be used to perfectly match them with a compassionate and dedicated carer.
One-to-one support ensures your loved one receives comprehensive, high-quality care focused on their overall well-being and physical symptoms. This person-centred approach helps them feel validated, listened to and understood.
Read more in our guide to how live-in care is slowing Alzheimer’s decline.
3. Surrounded by Familiar Surroundings
Home care allows you or a loved one to remain in their family home, despite an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. There are many benefits to this, such as the sense of comfort and safety felt in a familiar environment. Family homes are often full of happy memories, which can help people with dementia feel more at ease, even as their cognitive function begins to decline.
Moving into residential care can be confusing. Waking up in a new bed may increase the risk of wandering or panic, leading to rapid deterioration. Receiving professional dementia care at home alleviates this risk, so you don’t have to worry about a loved one injuring themselves as they try to work out where they are.
4. Improved Quality of Life
At Trinity Homecare, we’re committed to enhancing the quality of life for all our clients as much as possible. Home care can support engagement in meaningful activities, such as personal hobbies and social outings, helping to boost mood and keep life feeling ‘normal’.
Live-in dementia care can also stimulate cognitive function through memory games, gentle physical exercise, and mindful hobbies such as painting and writing. Boosting cognitive function can positively impact your loved one’s self-esteem and outlook on life.
Companionship and emotional support is also essential in enhancing the quality of life. Loneliness impacts many older adults, and progressing symptoms can make communicating with others more challenging. Live-in care can offer companionship as and when required, helping prevent social isolation and improve overall quality of life.
To learn more, keep reading our guide to improving quality of life living with dementia.
5. Continue Routines as Normal
When moving into residential care, it’s not uncommon for people to have to get used to a new routine. Many care homes have set wake-up, meal and bed times, which may be different to your loved one’s current routine. Having to adapt to a new schedule with Alzheimer’s may increase confusion or feel like a loss of independence.
Home care removes all of the anxiety surrounding a change in routine. Your loved one remains in control of everything they do. Live-in carers have time to adjust to schedule changes, so there’s no need for a rigid routine to be in place, either. They can eat when they’re hungry, wake up and go to bed when they want, and decide on their daily activities as and when it suits them.
6. Family Involvement
Home care allows family and friends to remain actively involved in their loved one’s care and support plans. There are no visiting hours to work around, either, making it easier for you to drop in at your convenience and spend quality time with your family member.
Trinity carers work closely with family members to provide constant support. At your request, we’ll offer updates, address concerns and ask for your collaboration on care plans. This ensures your loved one receives the best possible standard of care, even if they can no longer communicate their wishes directly.
7. Maintain Independence and Dignity
One of the biggest reasons why many older adults don’t want to consider professional care is a loss of independence and freedom. This is especially true for individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, which can naturally reduce independence as symptoms progress.
However, receiving dementia care at home doesn’t have to impact independence. At Trinity Homecare, all of our carers understand the importance of autonomy and independence, honouring this as much as possible despite symptoms.
Rather than rushing in to take over daily tasks, our carers will gently encourage and offer support only when necessary or when asked for. We’ll discreetly monitor symptoms and mobility, taking care not to impose or make your loved one feel ‘watched’.
8. Less Stress and Anxiety
The idea of experiencing worsening Alzheimer’s symptoms can be a great source of stress and anxiety for individuals. This is often only exacerbated by the idea of having to move into permanent residential or nursing care. The ability to remain at home can reduce a lot of these fears and make moving into an uncertain future more manageable.
At-home dementia care can also help reduce stress for loved ones who may be struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis. Our carers support the entire family’s emotional well-being and offer guidance whenever necessary. Home care can help you spend positive quality time with your loved one rather than worry about care needs and fitting everything into your hectic schedule.
Talk to us today
At Trinity Homecare, our ultimate goal is to enrich your lifestyle in the comfort and familiarity of your own home. This allows you to live the independent lifestyle that you love without the daunting thought of moving into a care home. We are here to support you with various forms of around-the-clock support.
Call us now on 0207 183 4884 in confidence for a free no obligation quotation. If enquiring outside of our opening hours, please complete our online form and we will contact you the next day.
