To make your day-to-day life easier for both you and the person you are caring for, it is important to keep things simple. An individual with dementia will have increasing difficulty when they are faced with too many tasks at once. Even our most simple routine tasks are made up of many steps. For example: dressing includes choosing the right clothes, deciding the correct order and then putting them on. It may be necessary for you, the caregiver, to break down these tasks into simple, easier steps. This will allow them to do what they can for themselves, leaving you to help with the rest.
Although it is necessary to simplify tasks for the individual you are caregiving for, it is also very important to allow the person to have as much control of their life as possible. Give them a chance to make choices if they are able, although it will eventually become necessary to limit these choices as the disease progresses. As their abilities decrease, you will have to eventually make the decisions for them. Here are some ways of keeping for days as simple as possible:
· Make sure you have clothes that are easy for your loved one to put on.
· Try to keep only a few options of clothes in the closet to limit decisions.
· Have the hairdresser choose a simple hairstyle for your loved one.
· Use an electric razor rather than a manual razer.
· Remove extra items in the home that may be a distraction (mail, bills, etc.).
· Remove unnecessary cutlery and dishes from the table when your loved one is eating.