Young Caregivers › Forums › Join the Conversation › Advice on how to care for a parent
My father was recently diagnosed with early-onset alzheimer’s and I don’t really know how to deal with it. We’ve never had the best relationship but now I have to care for him and I just feel overwhelmed. If anyone could offer advice on how you are able to care for your parents or general care-giving advice it would mean the world.
My father was recently diagnosed with early-onset alzheimer’s and I don’t really know how to deal with it. We’ve never had the best relationship but now I have to care for him and I just feel overwhelmed. If anyone could offer advice on how you are able to care for your parents or general care-giving advice it would mean the world.
Welcome casualmetaphor. I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling overwhelmed. You might find this link helpful as you learn more about your father’s condition and caregiving: https://youngcaregiversconnect.ca/alzheimers-and-dementia/.
I’m so glad you reached out to connect on this platform. I hope while you’re here you find others who can connect with what you’re going through and can share tips about what helped them.
Your feelings are definitely valid. I think if there’s one thing that I do when caring for my parents is create a weekly schedule for myself. In this schedule I usually write down my own personal priorities that I need to adhere too. Things such as the days that I work in the week, assignments that I need to complete, birthdays of my family/friends, meetings for work, etc. The reason I am suggesting that you make a schedule is because it helps to reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. I use monthly calendars that can be found at the dollar store and I also use agendas to help me. Another thing that is also very important when caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is taking part in activities to help the working memory stay active. My grandmother has Alzheimers and something that I do with her to help her memory is create a routine so that my grandmother knows what’s going on daily. I suggest that you practice this as well 🙂 Good luck!
Thank you for sharing what has helped you, and your experience about your grandmother. It must be hard at times supporting her but it sounds like you’ve found lots of things that work for both of you.
These are great suggestions for all caregivers, but especially for casualmetaphor’s situation. It really is normal to feel overwhelmed and these strategies can definitely help. I especially like the dollar store calendar idea since money can be a real challenge when you’re a caregiver.
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