Activities for the Family Caregiver – Lewy Body Dementia: How to Engage / How to Live

By Scott Silknitter, Robert Brennan and Linda Redhead

From the groundbreaking series written specifically for family caregivers, “Activities for the Family Caregiver – Lewy Body Dementia: How to Engage / How to Live” offers information and insight to enhance quality of life through improved social interactions as well as activities of daily living tips, safety and general caregiver information. Learn new communications and activities strategies to improve time spent with your loved one. Gain new insight as you learn the “how to’s,” “why's,” and techniques of activities – daily living and leisure. Discover how to turn daily activities and routines into opportunities to start some joy.

Written by nationally recognized leaders in senior care for those with physical and cognitive disabilities, “Activities for the Family Caregiver – Lewy Body Dementia: How to Engage / How to Live” provides much-needed information to address the unique social and daily care needs of those with Lewy body dementia and those who care for them.

“Activities for the Family Caregiver – Lewy Body Dementia: How to Engage / How to Live” is just one book in a series of books from R.O.S. Therapy Systems. Whether it is Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, traumatic brain injury or some other issue, R.O.S. is here to help improve quality of life for not only the patient but also the caregiver. The Activities for the Family Caregiver book series embodies the mission of R.O.S. Therapy Systems: To improve quality of life for seniors and their caregivers through activities and education. Each book in the series was written by industry experts related to the specific topic covered and is filled with valuable information and common sense tips to help families and caregivers engage their loved one in meaningful activities.

R.O.S. Therapy Systems was founded by inventor, author and speaker Scott Silknitter of Greensboro, NC, in 2010 as a project to help his mother and father in a 25-year battle with Parkinson’s disease and dementia. For more information about Scott or the R.O.S. family of companies, please visit www.ROSTherapySystems.com or contact us at 888-352-9788.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookPartnership
• Release date: Jul 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781943285075

Book preview

Authors

Chapter 1

Lewy Body Dementia Overview

Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) may not be as well-known as other dementias, but it accounts for 20% of individuals with dementia worldwide.

As with any dementia, the more you are informed about Lewy body dementia, the better you can recognize the changes occurring in your loved one’s world.

Lewy body dementia is caused by abnormal deposits of protein in the brain. These protein clumps are called Lewy bodies. The clumping of this protein may cause the brain cells to work less effectively and eventually die. The Lewy bodies affect the normal chemicals of the brain leading to problems with movement, thinking, and behavior.

Lewy body dementia is a description for two known types of dementia:

Dementia with Lewy bodies

Parkinson’s disease dementia

LBD usually begins around 50 years of age. It appears to affect more men than women.

The disease lasts an average of five to seven years from the time of diagnosis; however, it can be a shorter duration or last longer.

Lewy bodies are known to affect different areas of the brain. Parts of the brain affected are areas which control:

Processing of information

Perception

Thought process

Language

Emotion

Behavior

Movement

Sleep

Alertness

Smell

Dementia with Lewy bodies is characterized by cognitive symptoms appearing within a year of the onset of motion and movement difficulties.

Symptoms which are recognizable with dementia with Lewy bodies include:

Hallucinations early in the course of the dementia

Fluctuations in cognitive ability, attention, and alertness

Rigidity, difficulty walking, and slowness

Sensitivity to medication used for hallucination

Parkinson’s disease dementia is also characterized by disabling cognitive symptoms developing more than a year after motion and movement difficulties start.

Recognizable symptoms with Parkinson’s disease dementia are:

Slow movements

Muscle stiffness / tremors

Shuffling walk

These symptoms usually result in a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Over time, as disabling cognitive symptoms develop, the diagnosis will be expanded to Parkinson’s disease dementia.

It is important to note that not all people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease develop dementia.

With Parkinson’s disease dementia, memory loss and disorientation do not occur first. More often, your loved one will experience greater problems with things like planning, decision-making, and organization.

They may also experience difficulties with visual perception, such as judging and navigating distances. This can cause them to fall frequently or become lost in familiar settings.

Behavior and Mood Problems

Behavior and mood changes can occur for several reasons, including:

Hallucinations

These are sensory experiences that cannot be verified by anyone other than the person experiencing them.

An example of this: Your loved one may be sitting in a recliner and suddenly start yelling at the kids running and screaming through the house—when the kids are not really there, or your loved one may see bugs crawling on the wall—when there are no bugs.

Delusions

These are beliefs that are contrary to the fact. An example of this is your loved one may look at you and say, You are not my wife.

Stress, Anxiety, Fears

Your loved one may experience feelings of anxiety related to certain fears that may become magnified. For example, a fear of an electrical fire may cause your loved one to unplug or even cut all plugs from all electrical appliances, or they may insist on turning off all of the lights for fear that the light will malfunction and cause a fire.

Pain

Your loved one may become easily agitated if they are unable to do something they would normally enjoy due to pain. For instance, they enjoy baking, but they cannot even get started with a recipe because bending to lift metal pans from the cabinets has become an impossible task due to arthritis pain. They may become extremely agitated, angry, and resentful as a result.

Illness

Your loved one may not be able to tell you they are not feeling well. For instance, they may be experiencing cold symptoms and not realize that their nose is running, and they may