Your elderly family member might be concerned that even small issues with her memory mean big trouble. As a result, she might find that leaning on some of these tools helps her to feel more confident that she’s in control of her memory.
Sticky Notes and Notebooks
Sticky notes can hang out just about anywhere that your aging family member needs a reminder. Notebooks, especially ones that are easy to carry around, give your senior a spot in which to jot down lists and notes to herself. Both of these can help her to feel as if she’s more in control of what she remembers and what she needs to know.
A Journal
Journaling is a powerful tool in general and it can help your elderly family member to sort through how she’s feeling about the memory issues she’s having. She might find that prompts help her to work through her thoughts, but free writing is just as potent. If your elderly family member does opt to keep a journal, she might feel better if you promise not to read it without her consent. Make sure you keep that promise if you make it, too.
A Highly Visible Calendar
Everybody forgets an appointment now and again but your elderly family member might feel more self-conscious about this due to her age and her memory concerns. Make sure that she’s got a highly visible calendar and that you keep it up to date for her. She might find that a plain calendar with big blocks helps her to avoid missing anything.
Alarms and Timers
Timers and alarms are a fabulous way to remind your elderly family member about a variety of different things that she needs or wants to remember. These can also help her to build a solid routine that keeps her doing what she needs to do, like eating by a certain time and taking her medication when she should.
Prompts
Prompts, either from you or from elderly care providers, work the same way that alarms and timers work but they’re more personalized. Your senior might not enjoy having an alarm jolt her out of what she’s doing. A gentle reminder from a person can be a better idea for her.
Having a few memory issues now doesn’t mean that your elderly family member is going to necessarily battle with dementia, but she might be worried that it will. Tools like these can help her to feel more confident that she can rely on something besides her memory. They can also help her to remain as independent as she wants to, even if her memory issues do worsen.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring a Caregiver in Hillsborough, CA, call the caring staff at Aviva In-Home Care. Call today: (415) 795-2203
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