Tips to Lower Stress Caused by Doctor's Appointments for Your Loved One With Dementia
Senior Care in Highland Park IL: Dementia and the Stress of Doctor’s Appointment
Dementia makes a lot of changes to your loved one’s brain, which means that she may react to seemingly normal situations in a different way than she ever has. This is especially true when your loved one is heading into potentially stressful situations such as a doctor’s appointment, making it even more stressful. Here are a few tips to make doctor’s appointments easier for your aging family member.
1. Look into Different Scheduling Options.
If you already know when your loved one is at her best, those are the times you want to aim for with her doctor’s appointments. Another factor to consider is that your loved one might do better with specific conditions, such as a less-crowded atmosphere or right after eating. Keep all of these factors in mind when you’re scheduling your loved one’s appointment.
2. Prepare Questions and Concerns Beforehand.
You and your loved one probably have quite a few questions about her current health and her prognosis. Make sure to jot these questions down as you think of them. If you need to organize them before the appointment, do that with plenty of time so that you can think clearly about the information that you need.
3. Consider Taking Someone with You.
Doctor’s appointments can be stressful for you, too. You’ve got a lot to juggle and then there’s helping your elderly family member. Taking someone with you can help you to focus on what you have to be handling in each given moment. If other family members are available, that’s a great way to help them be more involved in your loved one’s health. That’s not always feasible, though, so another option is to hire senior care providers to help you both.
4. Call Ahead the Day of the Appointment.
You’ve likely done a lot of pre-work to help make sure that the experience at the doctor’s office a good one for everyone involved, but there’s still more to do. On the day of the appointment, call ahead and double check the atmosphere. If it’s loud or crowded when you didn’t expect it to be, at least you’re prepared in advance.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and see what works best for your senior. Everyone is different and your loved one might respond better to some strategies than to others.
If you or an aging loved one are considering senior care in Highland Park, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas.
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