Undergoing some form of dementia is hard, but it is also hard to understand what needs should be met. A caregiver must understand the complexities of the illness and what to expect. Not many have this ability, which is why therapy is such a valuable tool for dealing with dementia. Dementia care already takes place in the home, in long term acute centers, and in skilled nursing facilities. Patients who undergo therapy have the advantage of working with a professional who understands the effects it can have on a person’s wellness.
Types of Dementia Care
In many cases, a patient undergoes therapy across a wide spectrum of treatments. Because dementia is so varied, the therapy is also varied, but it usually spans across 3 separate forms of therapy.
Occupational Therapy
This is a form of therapy that addresses the patient’s ability to deal with everyday tasks. The patient must be able to perform basic daily tasks in order to have some form of independence. Occupational therapists teach the patient new ways to bathe themselves, to dress, to manage their medication, and perform very light housekeeping duties. It’s often these small actions that helps a patient feel like they’ve regained some form of control in their life; a vital part to their recovery.
Physical Therapy
Although not often the case, some physical therapy could be required for a patient to undergo. This form of therapy helps to regain motor skills that were lost. Victims of a stroke might need to regain the ability to use their limbs as well as dealing with dementia from the attack. A physical therapist also provides exercises and routines to build strength and balance.
Speech therapy
Patients with dementia often lose their ability to properly communicate. A therapist who specializes in the disease has the ability work with patients of dementia to build up new compensation techniques to communicate with the world around them. They rebuild their words and vocabulary so they can communicate feelings, needs, and thoughts.
Positive Aspects of Dementia Therapy
Dementia, in its many faces, can be hard on the sufferer and the caregiver. It can be difficult to deal with someone who once had full understanding to being entirely reliant on someone else. This burdens both the patient and the caregiver. Therapy addresses a wellness of the patient that goes beyond motor skills and communication techniques. Therapy looks at the patient as a whole from the physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and intellectual conditions.
Those in dementia care have the benefit of working with someone who is specialized and skilled in this form of treatment. They have the knowledge and experience to effectively treat all the symptoms better than a family member ever could. It’s only through therapy that full recovery or treatment can be had.