Reversible Dementia: Is Assisted Living The Best Option For Your Stubborn Parent?
If your elderly parent experiences reversible dementia and refuses to let you help them, you need to make tough decisions about their care. One of the toughest decisions you face is placing your parent into an assisted living facility. However, it can be the best decision for your parent now and in the future.
Although reversible dementia is treatable with the right medications and care plans, the condition can become irreversible if your loved one refuses to take their prescribed medications and orders. In addition, if your parent stops communicating with you out of anger, you can't reinforce the doctor's orders. An assisted living facility is a good choice for your parent because it keeps your loved one on track with the prescribed treatments. Here are facts about reversible dementia and why assisted living is the best option for your parent.
What's Reversible Dementia?
Reversible dementia, which is also called pseudodementia by doctors, describes a mental disorder that temporarily affects the cognitive thinking skills, memory and behavior of elderly people. If doctors diagnose the disorder in its early stages and successfully treat its underlying causes, they can reverse the changes pseudodementia causes in their clients.
Although reversible dementia has many causes, it commonly occurs when your parent:
- Develops an infection, such as a urinary tract infection or high blood pressure, that reduces the blood or oxygen flow throughout the brain
- Mixes the wrong medications together, such as taking high blood pressure pills with blood pressure lowering aspirin or antibiotics
- Develops depression, bipolarism, or another type of mental illness that changes the chemical functions in the brain
The conditions above often produce confusion, memory lapses and abnormal changes in your parent's behavior and way of thinking.
Once your parent's doctor prescribes medications that control or treat the underlying cause, your parent must continue the treatments to prevent future episodes of reversible dementia. But if your parent doesn't take the medications as prescribed, reversible dementia changes to an irreversible form of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease causes permanent memory loss, as well as a decline in your loved one's physical health.
How Does Assisted Living Help?
The staff at an assisted living facility can use counseling and client intervention services to find out why your parent refuses to listen to you or follow their doctor's orders. In many cases, the parent may fear losing control over their finances, their ability to live alone, and overall independence in society. Your parent may think that you plan to take their freedom away when all you want to do is help.
The facility will devise a care plan that encourages your parent to live independently while still following the doctor's orders. For example, your parent can fill their assisted living apartment with pictures, furnishings and other personal items to make the transition from residential home to assisted living comfortable.
For more information about assisted living, contact Casa De Palomas or a similar location.