If your senior has dementia you might be starting to deal with something called challenging behaviors. There’s a lot that falls under this category, including repetitive actions and vocalizations, wandering, and more. Tracking these behaviors will give you a wealth of information that you need to be able to tap into.
Patterns and Triggers Are Vital to Know
Even with something that seems as random as dementia, there are patterns there if you can spot them. Once you understand a little more about those patterns, you can start to figure out triggers for your senior and that is absolutely vital. When you’re tracking challenging behaviors, you’re collecting data. You might use that data right away or it might get compiled into something that makes a lot more sense down the road. Either way, it’s useful.
What Situations and Triggers Stress Your Senior
When you’re tracking challenging behaviors, it starts to get a lot easier to see and to understand what triggered a stress reaction from your elderly family member. That allows you to do a much deeper analysis of the behavior itself and what it tells you about your senior’s needs and her state of mind. It’s also a lot easier to remember that she’s not doing these things just to irritate or to upset you.
How Well She Does at Various Times of Day
Many people with dementia do better with certain tasks at different times of the day. Your senior may be more able to deal with complicated situations in the morning or in the early afternoon. When she tries to deal with the same tasks or situations at another time of day, that might be when she’s exhibiting more challenging behaviors. Tracking all of this makes those details a lot more obvious. In Case You’re Missing Something There’s so much going on when your elderly family member is perfectly healthy but adding dementia into the mix and there is, even more, going on. There’s undoubtedly something you’re missing and it’s difficult to even guess what that might be. When you track behaviors for a little while, you’ll see more than just patterns. There are other details that will start to leap out at you.It's not easy to track challenging behaviors, especially at first. Working with senior care providers can help you a lot with this because they’ve got experience both dealing with what’s happening in the moment and making note of what occurred. They can help you to find a system that works and track situations that happen when you’re away, too.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Elder Care in Sherman Oaks, CA, please call Mom's Home Care and talk to our friendly, knowledgeable staff. Our number is 323-244-4789
