Senior Center Program Sheds Light On Dementia

By Steve Bonanno

Old age is part of life. With it can come the pains of mental dementia. Robin Viklund, director of nurses and home health aids at Regional Hospice and Homecare of Western Connecticut, came to the Senior Center on June 15 to talk to a group of seniors about dementia.

Ms Viklund has worked for Regional Hospice and Homecare for seven years, and has been giving talks like this for the past two. Ms Viklund began her comments by explaining the two different types of dementia. There is Alzheimer’s disease, which is caused by plaque building in the brain, and there is vascular dementia, which is caused by a lack of blood flow to the brain, a possible symptom of a stroke. Both types of dementia cause irreversible neurological damage and both fit the same hospice criteria.

“We all experience memory loss,” said Ms Viklund, “but where we might forget where we put our keys, someone with dementia will forget what the key is for.”

Ms Viklund explained the difficulty a caregiver or family member may experience while trying to communicate with someone with dementia. The person may suffer from aphasia, which means they cannot think of the words they are trying to say. This often frustrates the patient. As the disease progresses it becomes harder for patients to remember words and their meanings, and eventually they lose their ability to talk completely. This makes it difficult for caregivers to access the comfort level of patients.

“I might ask a patient if they are in pain,” said Ms Viklund, “and they will shake their head no but they have tears.”

Speaking is not the only thing that becomes difficult for dementia patients. Patients eventually lose their ability to walk and become bound to wheelchairs and beds. Eating becomes more difficult as well until they eventually lose the ability to swallow. They also lose touch with reality. They may drift back and forth between different periods in their life. The patient can also become violent toward caregivers and family members. This could be because they are reliving something painful from their life or they are just scared and confused. Ms Viklund assured it is nothing personal against the caregivers or family members.

“Another thing that’s very sad is they also forget how to smile,” said Ms Viklund.

This mental deterioration is why dementia patients require assistance such as palliative care. Home health aids give palliative care, which Ms Viklund explained, is to help prevent the suffering and manage the symptoms of patients with incurable diseases.

“We are there when the dying process is happening,” said Ms Viklund, “we help you be more comfortable and live a better quality of life at the end.”

She explained that hospice is a form of palliative care that requires the patient to be homebound. She also explained that palliative care could be used in an assisted living home, but not in a nursing home because the nursing home counts as the palliative care.

When asked about morphine Ms Viklund explained that it is used, but only at the right time when the patient needs it.

“I’ve heard doctors tell families that their loved ones don’t need palliative care because they don’t need morphine yet,” said Ms Viklund, “which is not the case.”

Ms Viklund explained that palliative care also offers support for grieving families once the patient has passed on.

“When you lose a loved one with dementia it’s sad, but there is also a relief that they are no longer suffering,” said Ms Viklund, “It’s hard though because there are really two rounds of grieving, when you lose them to dementia and when you lose them to death. Loss is a very personal thing that people deal with differently.”