Four Reasons Routines Are Important for People with Dementia
You might feel as if setting up a routine for your senior is too complicated or is something that she wouldn’t enjoy, especially if she has dementia. But in reality, people with dementia tend to do better with a strong set of daily routines.
Home Care in Southport IN: Routines Are Important
Routines Offer a Structure to Her Day
If you’ve ever experienced vacation days where you didn’t know what to do with yourself, you might have an idea why having structure for your senior could help her. Days without a plan or a routine can start to run into each other and even become confusing. When your senior knows what to expect from each day, that can be soothing in and of itself.
They Keep Her Engaged and Using Her Brain
When you’ve got solid routines in place for your senior, her brain has something to do. You’re going to fill that routine, so the activities that you include helps her brain to stay engaged. Even the fact that you’re setting up a schedule of sorts for her works her brain a bit. This is all good news, because it may help to slow down the progression of dementia. Even just a little bit helps.
Routines Give Her a Sense of Purpose
Whether your senior is in the earliest stages of dementia or in the later ones, there’s a part of her that knows what is happening. This is part of why many aging adults with dementia develop depression and other mental health issues. If you’ve got routines that work for your senior, that can help her to feel as if what she’s doing has at least some meaning, and that’s important.
The Right Routines Can Help Keep Challenging Behaviors in Check
Part of why challenging behaviors show up at all is because your elderly family member is dealing with a lot. She has emotions about what’s happening, but she may not be able to articulate them in a way that makes sense to you. So, those emotions get expressed through wandering or repetitive actions. When your senior’s routines are supporting her, she’s less likely to feel frustrated, anxious, and upset, and those behaviors aren’t as necessary as a form of communication.
Working through your senior’s routines can be difficult at first. It might even help to work with elder care providers. They can help with finding engaging activities and even make it possible for you to be able to take respite time for yourself.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Home Care in Southport, IN, please call the caring staff at Home Services Unlimited. Serving Greater Indianapolis Area. Call for Immediate Info & Assistance: (317) 471-0760
As a practicing Registered Nurse, Etelka was keenly aware of a void in quality patient care that could be provided in the home. She embarked upon a journey to develop a home health care agency that would exceed all expectations and become a trusted partner to physicians and patients.
A Distinguished Career From Nurse to Director of Nursing to President of Home Services Unlimited
Etelka’s distinguished career followed a logical progression to her position as President of Home Services Unlimited. She graduated as a nurse practitioner with a Bachelor of Nursing (RN) in 1972 from Meshgorya University in the Ukraine, close to where she lived with her family. She married her husband Phil in 1973 and decided in 1977 that they would relocate to the United States to be closer to family and to come to this land of opportunity. With an eagerness to continue her budding career, Etelka sat for and passed her Boards in the U.S. in 1979.
A Love and Talent for Working with the Elderly
Etelka began her nursing career in the U.S. at Colonial Crest, now part of Golden Living, where she was the In-service Coordinator, the Director of Training and Education and Director of Nursing, a position she occupied for several years.
With a group of partners, she co-founded Adept Corporation, which operated group homes for the mentally challenged. The business was successful and in 1996, Etelka sold her share to return to her roots, caring for the elderly.
In January of 1997, Etelka opened Home Services Unlimited as a fully licensed business to provide home health care. In her quest to learn to do better for her patients, she had already obtained a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) in May of 1990 from the College of St. Francis. As President of Home Services Unlimited, Inc., Etelka guides the trusted, experienced care model Home Services Unlimited uses to continue providing excellent home health care.
Giving Back to the Community of Indianapolis
Volunteering for community services is a high priority for Etelka. Her memberships include the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Executive Women in Health Care and the Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care, where she is a member of the Board of Directors.
Etelka has also served on the Board of Directors with Hooverwood Home, a highly regarded geriatric facility, since 1997 and as the President for 2005-2006. Through her community work, she has received several awards and accolades, including the Nora McFarland award in 2002, from the Indiana Association of Home and Hospice Care.
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