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Dementia is a general term used for conditions involving memory loss. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, but there are others as well. Often, dementia doesn’t only impede memory, but other mental faculties too. Dementia can affect reasoning abilities, thinking processes, and behavior. If your loved one begins to show signs of dementia, their healthcare provider can evaluate their condition to determine what type they may be suffering from and how to treat it.

Memory lapses are common among seniors. In fact, someone at any age is liable to suffer a memory loss when they’re feeling overwhelmed or over stressed, but lapses in memory become a concern when they begin to occur with some frequency or when their severity increases. For seniors in assisted-living situations, memory lapse is something that caregivers must look out for and evaluate should lapses begin to occur. While it’s important to be on guard against memory loss, there are also some things that caregivers can do to help the seniors in their care stay sharp.

In the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease, you may find it fairly easy to maintain a balance between caring for your loved one and taking care of your own needs. But in the later stages, your loved one may have increasing difficulty eating, communicating, and walking, and she’ll become more vulnerable to injury and infections. She will likely require constant supervision and intensive assistance with ambulation, meal times, personal hygiene tasks, and other activities of daily living. Providing quality care at this point can be more than a full-time job.