Most of the families I work with are adult children trying to help an aging parent. They’re balancing jobs, kids, and life while trying to manage care for someone who’s slowly changing due to dementia.
When someone has dementia, there are more concerns like memory loss, safety, and unpredictability, which eventually lead to the need for full-time supervision. I’ve seen families do their absolute best, taking turns watching over Mom or Dad, trying to keep them at home, and still running into dangerous situations.
Why 24/7 Care Is the Best Choice
People often think, “They’re okay during the day. They just need help sometimes.” But dementia doesn’t work like that. I’ve had families tell me how their loved one woke up at 2:00 a.m., completely confused, trying to leave the house or cook something on the stove. One client had to call the police in the middle of the night because her dad wandered off before anyone noticed he was gone.
The Risk of Wandering
Beyond wandering, there are other risks, too. I’ve seen people try to use household appliances unsafely. I’ve seen them take medications they weren’t supposed to or forget essential ones. They may leave the water running, forget to turn off the stove, or open the front door and not remember why. As dementia progresses, the ability to make sound decisions fades. And the scary part is they often seem fine in short bursts. That can make families feel like things aren’t as urgent as they are until something serious happens.
Why Families Burn Out
I’ve spoken with many adult children who feel like they’re supposed to do it all. But watching over someone around the clock is more than any one person can handle for long. It’s not sustainable. You need to slee, work, care for your own family, to rest. When you’re constantly on edge and wondering if your loved one is safe, if they’ll wake up confused, if they’ll wander off, it can take a toll. That’s when we start talking seriously about professional care in a setting that offers 24-hour support.
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Today I want to talk about the kind of clients that I usually work with, and it’s usually the adult children of seniors. Caring for the elderly person is a very difficult thing to do, especially if they have dementia symptoms. They truly will need about 24/7 care, so imagine a person with dementia who wakes up in the middle of the night, and sometimes they’ll be very confused and not know where they are. So a lot of times we see them start wandering at walking around the home. Sometimes, you know, doing something dangerous like putting something in the microwave or putting something on the stove. And a few times they want that outside the house and the elderly loved ones, you know, waking up and not finding them, and they end up starting calling the police and searching for them and knocking on neighbors. So when you have someone with dementia, and it’s a progressive disease, things most likely will get worse and worse, and they really need 24/7 care. They need eyes on them all the time. Thank you.
