Caregiving Skills
Ms. Chan lives with her son, her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. Recently, she has started to forget to flush the toilet and switch off the lights. She also speaks very little these days. Her daughter-in-law mentions Ms. Chan's situation to a friend one day. Her friend suspects that Ms. Chan may have dementia and is urging her to arrange for a physician's appointment for Ms. Chan.
- If you were the daughter-in-law, how would you react?
- Would you be confused because all you know about dementia comes from the media and television dramas?
- Would you be worried about what is going to happen to your mother-in-law and the whole family, including yourself?
Dementia is a very special disease that can progress gradually or worsen in an instant. This makes caregiving for people with dementia difficult and frightening, especially for new caregivers.
The aim of this program is equip you with knowledge about dementia and how to take care of people with dementia so that you can be a competent caregiver. We recommend that you read the materials in sequence, but you can also look up specific information you want directly.
There will be a summary for most sessions and chapters so you can check your understanding of the materials. You can also post questions and comments on the Web pages or in the forum for answers and suggestions.
Welcome to the Caregiving Skills!
What is dementia?
What is dementia? How do physicians diagnose dementia? What will happen after a person develops dementia?
Treatments
What drugs are prescribed to people with dementia? What are alternative treatments?
Caregiving skills
How can you take care of people with dementia? How can you assist people with dementia to live at home?
Environment and technology
How can you provide a suitable environment for people with dementia to live at home? What are the supportive aids?
Activity design
How can you design activities for people with dementia? How can you provide cognitive training at home?
Planning for the future
How can you plan for people with dementia and yourself as a caregiver? What are the choices?
Case studies
How can you combine the knowledge and skills introduced in this program and utilise them in various situations?