Dementia Care Norwich

As our clients’ conditions develop we continuously support our carers to provide the appropriate care, monitoring the notes from each client visit and regularly discussing how to adapt our approach.

Dementia, and therefore Dementia care, comes in different forms, including Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease Dementia. Each form impacts people in particular ways. Loss of memory is a symptom that is well known, but dementia can also lead to changes in behaviour, people can lose their inhibitions, their personalities can seem to change, they might become more argumentative, ‘unreasonable’, even aggressive. People might be able to access memories from their more distant past but not be able to manage day-to-day tasks because they are unable to remember how to do them any more, such as washing and dressing, making a cup of tea and so on.

At The Home Team we believe that it is extremely important to be alongside someone with dementia, whatever their symptoms, not to challenge them or to tell them that they have repeated themselves, but to find a way to make them feel relaxed and comfortable. If someone is being aggressive we understand the approaches that can deescalate a situation, such as changing the subject or moving on to another activity. Some of our clients who are no longer able to manage simple day-to-day tasks love to sing or recite verses or limericks that they remember from their childhood, teens or twenties. Once our dementia care Norwich team knows this they can encourage a song or a recital, which brings a lot of pleasure to those clients and further cements the carer-client relationship.

Dementia can be extremely upsetting for a partner, other family members and friends who see their loved one become increasingly affected by this disease. For those living with someone with dementia, it can be extremely challenging and exhausting, particularly when a behavioural change might mean that the person with dementia needs to be regularly attended to. That person might be up a lot in the night, they might need to be helped to clean and change after a toileting accident and they might wish to do something that could be deemed to be a danger to themselves.

We recognise the importance of providing Dementia Care support to the partner who has become the main carer for their partner who has dementia, to listen, advise and provide practical support. We will always ensure that we are in regular supportive contact with the partner who has become their partner’s carer, not only through The Home Team carer who is in attendance but also through our management team, making regular contact by phone and in person.

The individual’s GP is the first professional to consult when a change in cognitive function has been noticed. The GP can diagnose whether or not that change is a result of a form of dementia and whether a medical intervention would be helpful. There are prescription drugs that can be very helpful in arresting the development of dementia and in managing the symptoms. There are also mental health practitioners who can be referred by the GP and assigned for ongoing Dementia Care support.

As well as medical professionals there are support groups and charities that can provide Dementia Care support to those looking after a loved one with dementia. A number of our clients attend weekly Dementia Care groups that provide stimulating and friendly gatherings that our clients enjoy and that give our clients’ other halves the chance either to be a part of that, or to have a few hours of valuable respite for themselves.

Watch our carer Alex talking about Dementia Care: