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Watching your loved ones age isn't easy. As if caring for a loved one's physical needs weren't challenging enough, the stress of dealing with reduced mental faculties can be even more difficult — for everyone involved.
If you're worried about your loved one's dementia and its effects on their quality of life, don't suffer alone. Salt Lake Regional Medical Center's Inpatient Senior Behavioral Health Unit can help.
Dementia and its related diseases, like Alzheimer's, are complex in nature and affect people differently. There are a lot of misconceptions about dementia. Because of its multifaceted nature, dementia can look different from person to person.
"Dementia is not a specific disease but is rather a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think or make decisions that interfere with doing everyday activities," said the Centers for Disease Control. "Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. Though dementia mostly affects older adults, it is not a part of normal aging."
Regardless of how it manifests in someone, dementia makes a physical, psychological, social and economic impact not only on the person living with dementia but also on their families, caregivers and communities in which they reside.
While not a normal part of aging, it is prevalent among adults age 65 and older. According to the World Health Organization, more than 55 million people worldwide live with dementia, with more than 10 million new cases each year.
The difference between dementia and Alzheimer's
Commonly misunderstood to be the same, dementia and Alzheimer's are different. Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life, while Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia.
As the CDC defines, dementia is the "impaired ability to remember, think or make decisions that interfere with doing everyday activities," while Alzheimer's is the most common cause of this impaired mental state.
Research is still uncovering all the reasons why someone might have dementia. What is known, is dementia is caused by damage to or changes in the brain, and Alzheimer's disease is the most common culprit for these changes.
The 10 warning signs of dementia
If you're worried about your loved one having dementia, there are several tell-tale signs to look out for. As the World Health Organization says, most dementia cases are in adults 65 and older. However, many of these signs can come on gradually, so it's best to be mindful of small changes you notice in your loved one's behavior. Over time many of these signs will grow in severity and frequency.
WebMD suggests watching for the following signs:
- Memory loss that affects day-to-day abilities.
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks.
- Problems with forgetting words or asking the same question repeatedly
- Forgetting where you put something.
- Personality changes.
If you've noticed some of these signs, it's best to get some help from the professionals at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.
Salt Lake Regional Medical Center's Inpatient Senior Behavioral Health Unit
For adults aged 55 and older, the physical, mental and environmental changes that accompany this stage of life can be difficult to process and manage, especially for those with dementia. Because there is no cure-all (yet) for dementia, the professionals at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center's Inpatient Senior Behavioral Health Unit are an invaluable resource to help people with dementia and their caregivers.
To best assist those with dementia and their caregivers, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center has established a special 20-bed unit within the hospital, dedicated to the practice of geropsychiatry, an area of medicine jointly focused on the physical and emotional needs of older adults.
While in this in-patient unit, neurologists provide consultation.
Dementia isn't the only condition the Senior Behavioral Health Unit treats, either. Anxiety, chronic pain, depression, mood disorders, paranoia, phobias, psychosis, PTSD and grief and loss are just some of the conditions the specialists in the Senior Behavioral Health unit are uniquely trained to address.
If you're worried about your loved one's dementia, or how to care for their needs, the professionals at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center's Inpatient Senior Behavioral Health Unit are just a short drive away. For more information visit their website.
