Tips for Personal Care

Guidelines for Helping with Daily Self-care Tasks

• *Simplify and clarify the task.  Clothing garments with simple fasteners or a permed hairstyle any go far in enabling the person to complete a task independently.  Clarify the task with environmental cues such as a comb and brush set out by the makeup mirror.
• *Reduce distractions such as background noise to confusing cues (such as clutter or similarly colored toilet and dressing stool covers.)
• *Keep a regular routine.  A regular routine makes life more predictable and easier to cope with.  This reduces confusion and improves the individual’s cooperation and ability to perform self-care.
• *Be flexible and patient.  It is important to remain flexible and patient because the first attempt at getting a task done often will not work.  Also, remember to not take refusals personally, the person with Alzheimer’s disease cannot help his/her behavior.
• *Use good communication techniques.

Techniques for Helping

• *Break the task into steps that are small enough to match the person’s abilities.  For example, a person may need to have tasks broken into smaller steps such as:  put toothpaste on the toothbrush, brush your teeth, rinse your mouth, and dry off your mouth.
• *Demonstrate the step.  For example, when you say “wipe your mouth” you can wipe your own mouth.
• *Help begin the action.  Even when you demonstrate a step, the person may still not be sure what to do.  You can help by beginning the action until he/she remembers what to do.
• *Give the person time to finish the step.  Rushing a person with Alzheimer’s dieses usually will increase confusion, embarrassment, and resistance.

 For more information contact 317-218-5111 or www.behomelivelife.com