Safe & Sound: Dementia Care During COVID-19

1. Start with wellness. A healthy diet, reasonable exercise, and good sleep patterns for your loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s will reduce stress and anxiety and promote overall wellbeing—a great foundation for getting through these next few months of social isolation.

2. Stock up but don’t hoard. Aim for a two-week supply of food, beverages, medications and personal essentials to help with meal- and daily-routine planning.

3. Essential visitors only, please. Aside from regularly scheduled care and medical providers, your loved one shouldn’t have visitors. Remind friends and family to phone, text, email, or video chat to keep in touch. 

4. Hand hygiene. People with dementia may have trouble understanding or remembering social distancing and hand-washing protocols. Do your best to encourage them to wash their hands frequently and have hand sanitizer within easy reach as a back-up.

5. Care for caregivers. Caregivers should try to minimize virus exposure by keeping shopping and errands to a minimum. If you need a hand as a caregiver, consider delivery services or reach out to friends or family for help; they can pick up supplies and leave them on your doorstep.

6. Monitor for peace of mind. It can be a challenge to always keep a close eye on your loved one. To minimize the risk of wandering during the pandemic, try using a GPS monitoring device such as iTraq Nano which can be attached to a belt or tucked into a purse or pocket for ease of use. Enjoy the peace of mind of monitoring your loved one’s location from your phone.