How Visiting Your Loved One in Memory Care Can Help Reduce Agitation

If you have a senior loved one with dementia, you may notice that agitation is one of the more common behaviors that occur. It’s difficult to contend with, considering both families and caregivers can encounter it regularly. Agitation can appear as pacing, irritability, restlessness, confusion, or aggression. When seeing this happen before your eyes, it is a difficult sight to see and deal with.

However, it is also possible to reduce such occurrences. Medication and therapeutic interventions can both be a good start. However, consistent and meaningful visits to your loved one can also help them feel relaxed, especially at the beginning of their move to a memory care community. This is highly encouraged in a memory care setting for seniors who struggle with dementia on a regular basis. Let’s discuss how these family visits can enhance your senior loved one’s emotional well-being and keep their agitation at bay.

What To Know About Agitation in Seniors with Dementia

As a family member of a senior loved one with dementia, agitation is not a random occurrence. They can occur regularly due to several factors such as environmental triggers, unaddressed needs, or even emotional distress. Memory care community residents may experience fear, confusion, or discomfort, which can also lead to occurrences of agitation. That’s because dementia affects a senior’s communication abilities and it may be difficult to understand what’s going on.

Unfamiliar environments, changes in routine, and lack of social interaction or stimulation can all contribute to agitation. Memory care staff understand this and know that their community settings are all designed to ensure that their residents are in a safe, familiar environment where they follow routines based on their care plan as well as engage in regular social interaction. The main goal is to reduce those stressors that can trigger agitation while ensuring a safe and supportive environment for your senior loved one.

The Emotional Impact of Familiar Faces

Seniors with dementia can still be able to recognize familiar faces, to the point where it’s emotionally significant to them. It can make things emotionally better for them, even when they are in the transitioning phase of moving into a memory care home. Family members including their children, grandchildren, and even their spouse can bring up long-term memories, a sense of calm, and also trigger positive signals like a smile. By being present regularly, it provides that signal of “you are loved, safe, and not alone”, all without such words ever being said.

By reassuring them this, their anxiety levels are lowered considerably. As a result, there are less occurrences of agitation. Even a simple, quiet visit with family can provide emotional stability in residents who are often prone to distress or restlessness. 

It Builds a Consistent Routine

It’s important to understand that consistent routine is always comforting to seniors with dementia. This includes the regular routine visits you and your other family members can plan on a regular basis. That’s because it provides a sense of structure that your senior loved one needs. You can set a schedule on when you can visit them such as every Saturday morning or even on a weekday after lunch. This will create something that your senior loved one will anticipate regularly.

As such, the predictability of their routine can become more embedded into their internal rhythm. When everything goes according to the routine, they can experience less agitation. Staff members in memory care settings know that there is little to no room for mistakes when it comes to addressing the individual needs of their residents including their routine. 

Maintaining Quality Care

Here’s one thing to note when it comes to each visit with your senior loved one: make them meaningful even if they’re just short, quiet visits. They can be even better than ones that might get lengthy and overstimulating. During each of your visits, consider creating an atmosphere that is calm like finding a peaceful spot. Meanwhile, you can physically interact with them such as holding hands while having a gentle conversation.

Reassurance and connection makes such visits excellent in quality while keeping things meaningful. During such visits, avoid topics that may create confusion or frustration. Instead, these interactions should be simple while emphasizing sensory interaction. For example, this can include sharing a snack, looking through photo albums, or even taking a simple walk.

Keep The Emotional Bond Strong

Dementia will continue to progress in your senior loved one. It’s a tough realization to deal with, making it more important to keep that emotional bond strong. Even if communication becomes more challenging, reinforce your relationship and continue to reassure that they are loved, cared for, and never alone. 

Support Your Loved One Through Regular Visits at Landon Ridge Alamo Ranch

At Landon Ridge Alamo Ranch Assisted Living & Memory Care, our residents who need memory care love nothing more than a regular visit from their loved ones. Whether it’s their children, grandchildren, or spouse, we make sure every visit is enjoyable, calm, and meaningful. Our community setting has plenty of calm environments where family bonds grow strong with every visit. For more information on how we can assist your senior loved one, contact us at Landon Ridge Alamo Ranch today.