At Family First Home Companions of Long Island, NY one of our professional caregivers can provide supervision for safety, cognitive stimulation for well-being, and guidance with the activities of daily living to support your loved one through the disorienting symptoms of dementia.

Dementia is a condition in which changes in the brain cause symptoms affecting intellectual and social abilities.  The affects of dementia can disable the person’s abilities to carry out his/her activities of daily living such as driving, preparing meals, taking medications properly, or doing household chores.  With the help of a caregiver from Family First Home Companions of Long Island, NY, a person with dementia can continue to live at home with independence and quality of life.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia.  Other types of dementia include Lewy body, Vascular and Frontotemporal.  Each type affects particular parts of the brain and has its own prognosis.

Common signs and symptoms of dementia include:

• Memory loss
• Difficulty communicating
• Inability to learn or remember new information
• Difficulty with planning and motor functions
• Personality changes
• Inability to reason
• Inappropriate behavior
• Paranoia
• Agitation
• Hallucinations

Dementia has many different causes.  Some can be reversed such as, dementia caused by a reaction to medication.  Other irreversible causes can be stroke, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, or heart disease.

Signs that your loved one may have dementia:

• Gets lost when driving or forgets how to operate certain functions of the car.
• Writes checks incorrectly and has mismanaged bills.
• Frequently loses objects in the household.
• Loss of impulse control.
• Repeats himself/herself frequently.
• Becomes confused within a conversation.
• Dressing inappropriately.
• Using inappropriate vocabulary.
• Frequent falls.