You may have noticed changes in your loved one’s personal care routine long before you received the diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Maybe they were forgetting to brush their teeth as often or didn’t want to bathe/shower as often as they once did. You may have found that you kept insisting that they do these things and could not understand their resistance.
Personal care activities can be a difficult thing to deal with, as these are activities, not only of a personal nature, but of personal independence. As long as your loved one is able to do all or part of the activities for themselves, then let them. You can monitor these activities, and when you notice them struggling, gently offer your assistance.
Activities will begin taking longer and longer to complete. The best thing to realize is to not be on a timetable. If you do have to be somewhere at a specific time, then help your loved one start the needed activities early. Rushing them and telling them to “hurry up” is only going to cause frustration and agitation.
Many things can be done to help your loved one with their personal care and we have provided some general tips. The most important advice is this….even though your loved one is changing through this disease process, you still know their inner being better than anyone. Pay attention to what works and doesn’t work and be open to modifying when and how these activities get done.
Read “Personal Care” (click here to download the PDF) – this document contains tips and suggestions on bathing, dressing, grooming, etc.