Physiotherapy for Alzheimer’s Patients

Let’s imagine together that one of those close to you has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which caused him a kind of atrophy of brain cells, severe decline, and clear memory impairment. As a result of this disease, there was a disability in the daily performance of the patient, and the disease negatively affected his practice of his life activities.

In this case, all those close to the patient and those who deal with him must first know what this disease is and how it affects the patient’s behavior so that they can deal with it with care and caution and in a way that suits his physical and psychological condition. Secondly, parents must learn ways and means of caring for the patient and helping him to perform basic functions in the best possible way.

Also, parents should understand the importance of the role of physiotherapy in helping the patient adapt to this disease and try to achieve the best results in treating its effects on movement, speech, and communication with others.

Physiotherapy program for Alzheimer’s patients

The physiotherapy program and plan is one of the most important ways to deal with Alzheimer’s patients and the most beneficial for the patient and his family. The physical and functional therapy program helps:

• Creating and enhancing the environment surrounding the patient in order to enhance his performance while providing protection and safety to perform his functions at the best possible level.
• Develop a comprehensive behavioral methodology to care for this type of patients and focus on how to maintain the remaining skills.
• Achieving a positive emotional state for the patient through daily care activities.
• Reaching the patient to a degree of independence and raising his morale.

The main objectives of the physiotherapy program for Alzheimer’s patients

• • Helping the patient to maintain or improve functioning in daily activities for as long as possible during the progression of the disease.
  • Restoring or compensating for some aspects of the functional decline that occur as a result of the disease.
  • Educating the patient’s family and companions about the disease and conducting training on the necessary skills to provide an appropriate environment at home.
  • Reducing the chances of deterioration of the disease.

Physiotherapy methods for Alzheimer’s patients

As physiotherapy is the best natural way to deal with Alzheimer’s disease, there are some methods and means that can be followed to help improve the patient’s condition. A physiotherapy session for Alzheimer’s patients can include:

• Natural massage and improve blood circulation in the body.
• Correct healthy nutrition programs and the recommendation of nutrients that help strengthen memory.
• Psychological and moral treatment to keep morale high, which contributes to the success of the treatment program.

Obstacles of implementing a physiotherapy program for Alzheimer’s patients

Despite the importance of the physiotherapy program and services for Alzheimer’s patients, there are some obstacles that may prevent the full implementation of the treatment program, such as:

• Severe stress as a result of the body’s functions being affected by the disease.
• Difficulty of speaking, communicating, and describing what the patient is feeling.
• Difficulty of concentrating during the session and mental separation from it sometimes.
• Forgetting instructions and required exercises.
• The patient’s mood swings as a result of the psychological impact of the disease.

The role of the family and caregiver in taking care of Alzheimer’s patients

Alzheimer’s patients are considered a very special type of patients that require extreme care, whether from the family or the caregiver of the elderly home care service, with competence and extensive experience in dealing with these cases in order to provide the following:

• Taking care of the health of the patient, and ensuring that he takes all medications at the scheduled times and with the specified doses, which contributes to improving memory and controlling the acute symptoms of the disease.
• Taking care of the patient’s personal hygiene, such as showering, shaving, and trimming nails.
• Follow up the daily measurements of the vital rates of the body such as blood pressure and sugar, and take the necessary measures in the event of any increase or decrease in these rates.
• Supervision of the patient’s nutrition system.
• Following up the patient’s psychological state and integrating him into daily social activities to prevent isolation or depression, such as exercise, drawing, music, etc.
• Dealing with the patient’s mood swings and trying to gain confidence in those around him to feel comfortable and safe.

Is it possible to get home physiotherapy sessions for Alzheimer’s patients?

Although there is the possibility of doing physiotherapy sessions in hospitals and specialized centers, there are many cases that cannot leave the house due to illness or the lack of capabilities and special equipment to move to a doctor or hospital, especially in the cases of the elderly and Alzheimer’s patients, Therefore, DoktorCare works to provide a home physiotherapist to help patients regain their movement abilities and improve cognitive skills using various scientific methods, exercise therapy and modern mobile devices to ensure a speedy recovery, taking into account the health condition of the patient or the person receiving treatment, and the presence of the patient in his home in a comfortable family atmosphere reduce stress while ensuring complete privacy for the patient in his home.