Your Elder is Anxious and Upset. A UTI Might Be to Blame As I emphasize daily, when an elder is agitated, the first thing to do is look for practical reasons. Very often, a urinary tract infection (UTI) is to blame when an elder is upset. A UTI results when bacteria...
Anyone who cares for someone with dementia knows that agitation is often part of the package. Nearly 20 percent of those with faltering cognition experience behavioral symptoms (anxiety, agitation, delusions, paranoia) severe enough to merit medical treatment. In care...
One unchangeable fact of life is that people never stop changing, no matter how old they get. Aging brings a cascade of physical and emotional changes, which can lead to a variety of behavioral changes that can baffle or worry an older adult’s loved ones. As America’s...
Recently, there’s been a lot of news about a 78-year-old Iowa legislator who’s now standing trial for a third-degree felony, accused of having “inappropriate” sexual relations with his wife, who had severe dementia. The nursing home where his wife lived allows sexual...
Adult children often contact us here at ElderConsult and complain, “I just can’t get my Mom/Dad/Grandparent/Uncle/Aunt to see that their mental facility is really a problem.” It’s so, so important for those us who care for people with dementia to remember this: Their...
As I do geriatric house calls around the Bay Area, adult children and other relatives of my patients often say, “He’s just not the way he used to be. Why can’t he be the way he used to be?” Children and other family members often struggle to accept that an elder has...
