Dementia patients, caregivers try to cope with locked down environment

Health workers say those with dementia may not understand the need to wear masks

For caregivers at residential centres and destitute homes with dementia patients, the lockdown has posed many challenges.

What is being touted as the new normal is resulting in anger, frustration and fear among many. But for patients of dementia and theirs caregivers, the period has been all this and more.

As governments try and emphasise upon the need to maintain social distancing and wear masks, among other things, to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, health workers say elders with dementia are at a loss to understand these concepts. For caregivers at residential centres and destitute homes with dementia patients, it has been a challenge. And for families who would otherwise rely on day-care centres, which are now shut, convincing them to stay home is turning out to be a daunting task.

MNC employee S. Vidya Sagar’s 85-year-old father is a dementia patient. He would otherwise be taken care of at a day-care centre, which is now closed. His mother, also a senior citizen, is trying her best to cope with the situation. “I live two houses away from them, but I am working from home. The stress for the caregiver is very high as dementia patients have to be kept engaged. My mother is also a senior citizen and the constant caring gets to her,” he admitted.

Radha S. Murthy, co-founder and managing trustee, Nightingales Medical Trust (NMT), said patients of dementia are already in a confused state. “There is a risk factor for COVID-19 through comorbidity. Added to this, they cannot comprehend the situation. So it is difficult to make them understand why they should wear a mask, etc. In addition, they are heavily dependent on caregivers who we have in limited numbers now. And not being able to see family (for those in residential care) is adding to their agitation,” she said.

Online support

To help patients and their caregivers, dementia care and active ageing centres are setting up online counselling sessions to ensure that the routines followed in the day-care centres are not completely missed. Families are given physical exercises and cognitive activities that they can administer to the patients, also giving some homework.

Physical activities that people are encouraged to take part include kickboxing, dumbbell exercises with water bottles, and chair aerobics, while the cognitive activities include simple maths problems, left-hand writing, sketching, and jumbled words.

“These activities help in improving the attention, grasping power and memory of the patients. We would have already assessed them, so there are individual-based activities as well for some patients who may be interested only in one kind of activity. Though the physical exercise is advisable to be done under supervision, families can administer some basic cognitive activities based on a basic assessment,” said Chandana K., the project manager of an active ageing centre in the city.