By nature, when a loved one is upset or anxious about anything, we pay attention, empathize, and sometimes even try to help. We do our best to show them that we value and respect them because we care about them.
However, due to memory loss, we may find abnormality in their brain functions and cognitive abilities. Additionally, feelings of rage, confusion, and anxiety are seen in the scenario when someone is discovered to have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
The difference between imagination and reality may increase as a result of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. If you to convince the person that they are believing in something that is not true, it will not improve the problem. However your intentions are genuine your loved one may interpret your attempt as an interfere to their personal life.
This can extend their already volatile behavior and already heightened emotions, as well as frustrate loved ones who are unsure of how to handle sudden outbursts.
Understanding the cause of your loved one’s worry will help you take proactive steps toward a solution that will not only reduce the negative behavioral expressions but also make them feel supported, appreciated, and listened to.
At Lenity Management Community, we frequently use a method with our clients known as redirection that enables them to move from a risky or unpleasant state of mind to a mind of joy and contentment.
What is the redirection in senior care?
Refocusing a loved one’s attention on a circumstance that makes them feel afraid, angry, anxious, or compulsive to act in a risky or unsafe manner is a technique known as redirection.
Redirection can be done in these 4 easy steps:
1. Validity of their anxiety: Simply being heard and appreciated is all your loved one with dementia wants. Repeating what they said can be useful and demonstrate that you are paying attention to their problem.
2. Joining in their reality: By assisting them with their request, you can increase their trust and open lines of communication while also giving you the chance to direct them toward a constructive diversion.
3. Leading them to a distraction: With the person’s enjoyment in mind, we proactively set up a space with stimulating activities, refreshments, beverages, music, puzzles, and other enjoyable things to do. when someone has significant memory loss or attention problems, this step is particularly useful.
4. Redirecting their attention: To divert their attention and change the situation, ask them to join one of the activities and help them balance support and independence. If you are able to redirect their attention successfully, then it will help to control their aggressive behavior.
Redirection is a technique we effectively use on a regular basis, giving our clients comfort in being aware that their loved ones will always be in taking care of with respect and dignity. Redirection proved to be a useful tactic when we had the pleasure of working.
Take care not to use negative verbal redirection
You must try to avoid using negative verbal redirection at anyhow in an effort to convince the person that nothing is wrong at all.
Even after giving your best efforts, if you can’t reduce their anxieties or simply disregard their feelings, your loved one might become more worried. It could happen if you are not aware of their feelings or do not take care not to use verbal redirection.
Let’s take a look at the unsuccessful results of negative verbal redirection. Assume a scenario of someone who can’t find their handbag and is convinced it has been stolen.
- “Your purse hasn’t been stolen. You must have misplaced it.”
If you have no sympathy for their missing purse, you don’t care about their feelings. This will negatively impact their trust in you and possibly upset them further.
It also fails to resolve their concern, as they still believe their purse has been stolen;
This dismisses their demand to know where their bag is by saying,
-
“You don’t need your purse right now anyway”
All people need their purses to be with them. They hold our identification, cash, credit cards, and other crucial stuff.
What matters is that they are currently giving more value to their purses. Any doubt may offend them, making it difficult for us to regain their trust.
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“Don’t stress over your purse. I’ll check for it later while you have lunch.”
This strategy disregards their urgent needs and implies that we don’t care much about them. In their reality, the purse is still gone, so they will probably keep looking”.
These scenarios all have one thing in common: it doesn’t matter if the purse is missing or not. It matters that they believe it is missing because that is their reality.
Because of this, we use the redirection method to change the situation and bring them back to a positive state. We do this by engaging them in pleasurable, constructive activities.
An important part of successful senior care
The happiness of your loved one is the primary concern of Lenity Management. Our goal is to always treat our clients with the respect, consideration, and dignity they deserve. Treatment of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are journeys we take together, appreciating each unique moment.
Connect with Siskiyou Springs Senior Living community to learn more about the caring environment and enriching experiences we offer for your loved one.
