Alzheimer's Awareness Month: A client and family’s story of dementia care at home
Discover how Home Instead Dartford’s dementia care at home transformed a client’s life, improving her well-being and bringing comfort and peace of mind to her family.
This Alzheimer’s Awareness Month
This Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, the Alzheimer’s Society is encouraging everyone to share their stories, bringing the experiences of those living with dementia into the open and helping to build a sense of community and understanding.
Inspired by this message, we want to highlight the importance of personalised dementia care and its positive impact on our clients and their families. At Home Instead Dartford, we are proud to share a story that illustrates how our fantastic team of Care Professionals and local office support can make a real difference in the lives of those we care for.
Our client’s story: A gradual approach to dementia care at home
Our client, a 91-year-old lady, was living independently locally, but struggling with the effects of living with dementia. She found it increasingly difficult to maintain her self-care and spent much of her time in a chair, watching TV, with little engagement in activities she once loved, such as singing, crafting, and gardening. Her family, recognising the signs of her decline, decided to seek extra support.
Initially, Home Instead Dartford provided an hourly care visit at home once a week, to gently introduce her to receiving care. This gradual approach helped her adjust to having someone new in her home and to build trust with our team. Over time, the frequency of visits increased to twice a week, with a focus on providing companionship and encouraging social interaction.
Building trust through engaging activities
As our client grew accustomed to regular visits from the same Care Professionals, she began to participate more actively in activities. She particularly enjoyed singing sessions and colouring, which helped to stimulate her cognitive and emotional well-being. These activities brought happiness to the day and helped create a bond with her Care Professionals.
Unfortunately our client experienced a health setback and was hospitalised for a heart condition, resulting in the fitting of a pacemaker. Recognising her increased care needs, her family were able to discuss and talk through her changing situation with Home Instead Dartford, and decided to transition her to Live-In care. This step ensured her evolving needs were met while providing her family with much-needed peace of mind.
Transition to live-in care: Comfort, continuity, and connection
The transition to Live-in care was handled with great care. One of our Care Professionals, who had been providing regular home care visits, continued to support our client, bringing familiarity and ease to this new stage of care.
With the introduction of Live-In care, we saw our client begin to flourish. Daily walks to the village, initially with a wheelchair and later using a walking stick, became a highlight of her routine. These outings, including visits to the local war memorial, helped her to reconnect with the community and engage more fully in daily life.
Transformative outcomes and family peace of mind
The decision to increase care had a significant positive impact on our client’s quality of life. For example she has rediscovered her love for singing and her garden, and has an increased interest in eating well, self care, and getting dressed up, and has actively participated in Home Instead Dartford’s local activities, such as our Singing Silver Birch Lunch Club.
Her son shared his thoughts, saying:
“The Live-In care provided by Home Instead has not only transformed mum’s daily experiences and well-being but has also brought peace and satisfaction to our family, knowing she is well-cared for and thriving.”
Feedback from our team also highlights substantial improvements in her daily life. Our client is now more independent, actively engages in conversations, and enjoys helping with household tasks. Instead of being withdrawn, she has become more interactive, participating and finding enjoyment in activities. She has even shared that attending our Multi-Generation Group reminded her of her years working in a children’s nursery, bringing back fond memories and further boosting her mood.
The positive value of personalised dementia care
At Home Instead Dartford, we believe that personalised dementia care can make a real difference and we ensure that our team is equipped with specialist training. Our client’s story demonstrates how tailored care, adapted to an individual’s unique needs, can greatly enhance well-being and happiness.
As we mark Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, we celebrate stories like this that show the positive impact of compassionate, tailored care at home. At Home Instead Dartford, we remain committed to supporting our clients in living fulfilling lives and living well at home. By sharing this story, we hope to raise awareness and inspire others who may be supporting loved ones with dementia.
If you would like to learn more about our specialist dementia care services don’t hesitate to contact us, call us at our local office for a confidential conversation with our team or send us an enquiry via our online form.
We regularly host dementia awareness workshops for organisations in the community, if you would like to find out more you can get in touch with our local office or read more at our blog here.