Dementia is a progressive neurological disease that affects a person’s memory, ability to think, and social skills. The hallmark of dementia is how it disrupts the individual’s everyday life. Memory loss by itself doesn’t mean a person has dementia. Doctors look for criteria that includes each possible symptom before rendering a diagnosis.

While cognitive tests and therapies cannot preclude the progression of the disease, the services may extend lucid states and give the residents a better quality of life. Vets or their spouses who are facing these diagnoses need memory care services to retain full function. 

Basic ADL Testing For Vets and Spouses

The most fundamental activities of daily living start with ambulating, which is the ability to move into different positions and walk on their own. Early-onset sufferers can feed themselves and choose clothing that is weather and situation appropriate for themselves. Personal hygiene is not a problem, and the individuals manage their own toilet requirements. 

What Are Instrumental ADLs?

These actions take complex cognitive skills, and they show when the person begins to decline mentally. These contributory task questions include:

  • Can they drive, manage transportation needs, and comprehend travel directions?
  • Do they face difficulties in managing their finances, paying bills, and controlling their assets?
  • Does the vet or their spouse shop for food, clothing, or other items on their own?
  • Can they follow instructions for meal preparations without placing themselves or others in precarious situations?
  • Do they keep their living areas clean, complete home maintenance, and manage housekeeping tasks properly?
  • Does the person carry on conversations skillfully, and can they manage phone calls and written correspondences appropriately?
  • Does the individual take and manage their own medications for themselves and as directed by their doctor?

When starting memory care, evaluations are necessary for gauging the progression of dementia. As the disease advances to new stages, the nurses and doctors conduct further reviews and tests. Each phase requires different therapies to improve memory and maintain neurobiological function.  

What Is the Vet’s or Their Spouse’s Functional Status? 

Clinicians ask this question to examine behavior patterns. Increased symptoms lead to lowered physical function, cognitive fluctuations, and social isolation. The care plan includes activities that improve these conduct dysfunctions. Vets or their spouses are encouraged to attend more social gatherings, complete exercise plans, and games that promote a healthier memory. 

Routines and Schedules

Memory care services manage neurobiological defects by setting up a list of tasks and times to do them. Individuals place these lists where they see them when they wake up in the morning. They can set alarms on their smartphones to remind them to do certain things such as yoga or take a walk.

Consistency is a great asset for anyone suffering from dementia and increases their ability to retain information. By completing familiar steps, they get into a rhythm each day, and they won’t forget what to do next. 

Relearning Simple Tasks

Cognitive decline stops service members from remembering easy steps, and they become disoriented at times. Therapies help them break each task into one or two-step processes that are easier to retain. Caregivers who provide memory services show vets and their spouses brief ways to complete daily ADLs without frustration. Forgetting things they have known all their lives could become disheartening for them, and enhanced coping mechanisms help them get through sudden mood changes. 

Exercise, art, and music are ways to relearn how to complete ADLs, and the individuals can retain the information longer. They may also become interested in hobbies that reflect steps taught in therapy. 

A Wonderful Home for Vets

Summerfield of Redlands provides extraordinary independent living options for vets and their spouses. The community offers a wealth of on-site services and amenities, including cognitive therapies and memory services. The opportunities give service members and their loved ones an improved quality of life and help them live on their own longer. Veterans and their spouses can find out more about the community and its special offer by setting up a tour of the community right now

Veterans and their spouses are diagnosed with dementia at an alarming rate. Statistics show that 6.2 million people who are at least 65 were diagnosed with dementia and cognitive decline in the last year.  Studies show that veterans who were exposed to agent orange are diagnosed more often, and the progression of the disease is rapid.

Memory care services help vets and their spouses regain cognitive function and slow down the degeneration of the brain. After a proper diagnosis, the service members and family members can get help from local service providers.