If you’re the primary caregiver of a person with dementia, you may be familiar with compulsive behaviors. If not, here are the most common examples:
- Walking or pacing routinely
- Collecting or hoarding stuff around the house
- Getting picky while eating
- Using the toilet frequently
- Organizing or counting objects repeatedly
- Checking locks, doors, and windows constantly
In our dementia program in Scottsdale, Arizona, Hearts for Dementia Home Care creates care plans that accommodate behavioral changes. These include repetitive or compulsive behaviors like the ones we described above.
Sharing our experience with in-home care assistance in Arizona, we would like to talk about how to deal with them in a way that’s proactive and helpful for you and your loved one.
When your loved one with dementia engages in repetitive behaviors:
- First, understand that they’re not doing this purposefully or maliciously. These behaviors are the result of the changes caused by their condition; they would control and even avoid these if they could.
- Next, you must evaluate the behavior. Our dementia program in Maricopa tries to classify if a certain behavior is harmless or dangerous before figuring out how to manage them.
- Then, find out the cause of the behavior. Dementia patients usually do things repetitively to relieve anxiety or boredom. Certain objects, noises, places, situations, or even times of day may trigger feelings that make them want to regain a sense of security or control, hence the compulsive behaviors.
- Finally, create strategies to redirect these behaviors into healthier, safer channels, like exercise or reviving hobbies. Our in-home care in Scottsdale, AZ can help you design and accomplish such strategies for greater ease and peace of mind.
Our team of specially trained caregivers can help your loved ones manage their behaviors better and thrive at home. Talk to us to arrange a care plan today.
You can also turn to our senior placement services for more care options for dementia patients. We would love to discuss them with you!