A Patient-Safe Home Creates Peace of Mind for Caregivers

When we were in the fourth grade, and our teachers asked us what we wanted to be, none of us said “Full time caregiver.”

And yet, when a beloved mother, father, sibling, or other family member is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, many people step up to that plate without a moment’s hesitation.

As a caregiver, you yourself can become exhausted, even sick and in serious danger, just from the workload. It doesn’t help that the burden of caring for a loved one often falls on someone over sixty.

A recent study coming out of Stanford University shows that forty percent of Alzheimer’s caregivers die before their patients. That’s right: forty percent. Read on to learn how you can beat that statistic.

Get help early in the game

Do not wait until your physical resources have been stretched to their outer limits. If you are providing home care for an Alzheimer’s patient, you will need help from the start.

Ideally, you want to map out a weekly schedule in which all close friends and relatives of the patient take a shift of at least four hours. If family members demur, you should apply for home aid through Medicaid or Medicare.

In some states, Medicaid will pay a caregiver as an alternative to paying for a low-cost nursing home. If you don’t need that money to pay your own bills, you can use it to hire home health care services.

Be aware of all your resources. Exploring options can be time consuming, because resources for caregivers are distributed at the state, county, and municipal levels.

Nevertheless, it is worth the time to research all the ways you can get help. If your patient is on Medicare or eligible for Medicare, you will have access to paid respite care. That means you can leave your loved one in the hands of a qualified care facility for up to five days while you catch your breath.

Home modifications that will bring peace of mind

One of the many things you may be worried about as a caregiver is your patient’s risk of injury. Because an Alzheimer’s patient loses much of her ability to reason, she may not be safe around appliances or stairs.

Here are a few modifications you may need to make, depending on the stage of cognitive degeneration and physical limitations of your patient:

● If the patient is in a wheelchair, you need wide enough doorways and hallways to accommodate the chair.
● You may need a ramp as an alternative to the stairs outside your house.
● Put your patient on the ground floor of the house and block off the staircases, either with locked doors or a gate.
● Walk in showers or bathtubs prevent falls.
● Grab bars in the shower or bathtub make it easier for the patient to lower and raise himself.
● Handle bars on the toilet may be needed if the patient has lost a lot of arm strength or gets confused in the bathroom.
● When they are not in use, unplug appliances that represent a danger. These include blenders, microwaves, can openers, and shavers. Lawn mowers and weed whackers should be stored in a locked garage.
● Bedrooms floors need to be uncluttered, with space heaters, door stoppers, and shoes all put away so nobody trips.
● As far as possible, the patient’s sleeping space needs to be near the bathroom and low-watt lights need to be on at all times to enable the patient to see her way to the bathroom.


This month is National Family Caregivers Month. That means that this month we recognize the heroism of people who have undertaken one of the toughest jobs in the world: Caring for an Alzheimer’s patient. If that describes you, plan for your own survival while you are planning for the survival of your loved one.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.