EP80: Alzheimer's Disease Care: 3 Tips for Transferring & Getting Dressed

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I went home to help my 70-year old mother take care of my 91-year old grandmother, who'd been in a nursing home for a year and a half during COVID. Grandma Trudie was extremely debilitated, and could only bear her body weight when she first came home. She could not pick up her feet to even step side-to-side or pivot - which had the potential to put a lot of work on my Mom’s back until Grandma Trudie regained some of the strength in her legs..</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> In this episode, I share a 3-part series on Alzheimer's Care. When your loved one is as debilitated as my grandmother, you can't move her from place to place easily. </span></p> <p><strong><em>3 Tips for Transferring & Getting Dressed</em></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">✔️</span> <strong>Tip 1: Consolidate Movement to Minimize Risk of Injury</strong></p> <p> </p> <ul> <li aria-level="1"><strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thinking through moves from bed to chair; with bedside commode stop in between.</span></strong></li> </ul> <ul> <li aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lining up and minimizing the number of transitions</span></li> </ul> <p> </p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Do as many steps in getting dressed or undressed while sitting, then moved her, </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Getting her into bed to lie down with one movement </span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">✔️</span> <strong>Tip 2: Using a Hospital Bed: It Goes UP for a reason</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Lowest position when getting in or out of bed</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Save Your Back – Roll the bed up as high as you need it to be to provide care</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">U