Better Sleep for Dementia Caregivers: Two Fresh Solutions
By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor
Nighttime can be nightmarish for those who live with someone in the moderate-to-advanced stages of dementia. The sleep patterns of caregivers over age 60 who provide direct, live-in care for people with dementia are significantly worse than those of noncaregivers, says a study in the new Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. These caregivers:
- Get less total sleep (an average of 6.5 hours per night)
- Take longer to fall asleep
If you already know basic good-sleep habits and are taking steps to minimize sundown syndrome and wandering (common sleep disruptors), what else can you do to solve the sleep puzzle? Here are two fresh ideas to consider:
1. Night respite care
I recently wrote about vacation respite care. Watch for night care to become the newest variation in the fast-growing respite care field. An innovator: the ElderServ at Night drop-in care program run by Hebrew Home in Riverdale, New York. It runs 7 p. m. to 7 a. m., with door-to-door service for a night of activities and rest, at $215 a night. Sound like a dream? It's even covered by Medicaid. Unfortunately, it's still a rarity.
Although you're not likely to find such a program in your backyard now, here's a related, more available option: Hire in-home night respite: an aide (through a home-healthcare agency) to help you through the night once a week, before important work events, or as often as can be managed.
2. A depression evaluation
University of Florida sleep researchers note that difficulty falling asleep can be a sign of depression, a condition hands-on caregivers are at elevated risk for. Depressed caregivers had the poorest sleep overall.
Don't write off symptoms like sleep disturbance, changes in appetite and energy level, and low mood as "part of the job" of caregiving. Depression is a treatable condition. Managing it with therapy (talk and/or drug) and lifestyle adjustments won't change the challenges you face caring for a loved one with dementia -- but it will fortify you to cope with them better. And maybe sleep more soundly, too.
Image by Flickr user Mayr's photostream, used under the Creative Commons attribution license.
my 80yrs old wanders at night and no napps durning the day.does not seem to get to her.but she is taking me down fast. she is my aunt and if i gi down she has to go to a state hospital.due to family members finically raping her.she never had children or no husband.so when i go down she lose's her quality of life.my husband is just before walking out the door. i am so scared for her.so if i got even two nights a week.i would be gratiful
$215? Holy crap, that's a lot!
we lost our spring vacation due to my 81yr old aunt w/dememtia.lost everypenny on that but we really need to get away. is there a place for her for 2 weeks that the government of medicare a or b will cover. she cannot get any medicad for 5 yrs. due to what other family members did to her.and put her out on the side of road and left her there. homeless w/dememtia..so no medicaid for yrs old
My dear hubby (with Alz) wakes in the wee hours, worrying about something (real or imaginary.) In his worry, he fidgets: legs and arms going like a windmill, flapping the sheets and blankets up and down, big heavy sighs, tossing and turning. There's no sleep once this starts, and it's becoming more common. Reassurances, soothing face strokes, snuggling on him for physical contact (and sneaky restraint!), scoldings (yes, I know - bad wife!), his sleeping pills... nothing works. I have to set him up in the family room in his big recliner with his pillow and blankets in order to get any sleep for myself. This works for an hour or two, and then he invariably wanders back to bed and we start all over again. A friend suggested turning on a favorite movie while he's in his recliner as a distraction from the worries. I'll try it next time. Pray it works!! This is hard enough when I'm well-rested; it's really challenging on 3 hours of sleep! Between his needs and a full-time job, I need to resolve this soon.
I love the idea of night care. Hospice is wonderful but work only day shifts.Makes no sense when the majority of dimentia patients have night episodes.
What i wonder is -- is one night enough. You say that get respite care before a big night but i dont know if that will work. I dont know about other people but even when someone is staying with my dad I am still awake, listening. I have been trained to not sleep well.
Two excellent suggestions by Susan Berg, author