Aging and its effects are invincible! It doesn’t matter how well you look after your health and body, age will catch up with you at one point and so will its side-effects. One of the most common aging symptoms is repeating. You may have seen your grandparents repeating stories again and again to you, although they are not suffering from dementia. This is one sign of an aging brain.

Why do grandparents with no Dementia repeat stories or incidents?

Life takes a completely new perspective when we age. In our human mind, there is always a need to make sense about the past and also reflect on the important incidents that happen in our life. Moreover, age gives us the chance to think about the past and reflect on it. Talking and retelling about these stories is a way of going through them again.

So, if your parents or grandparents retell a story to you which you have already heard almost a hundred times, ask them to tell it again to you. This will help your oldie to make sense with something that happened in the past. Moreover, our elders always want to figure out things and situations of how they helped shape their present and future.

Dementia – Repeating stories

Youngsters today, have very less patience especially when dealing with parents or grandparents. Asking them to retell stories that you have heard earlier is something that not all youngsters prefer. The case is worse in grandparents suffering from Dementia and has lost their short Term Memory. This is a very painful condition for the elder and also the youngsters, as they (grandparents with dementia) forget what they just said. And so, they repeat things again and again all through the day.

How to care for Elders with or without Dementia?

There is no one way to caring for our grandparents suffering from conditions such as Dementia or who repeat stories again and again. But, there surely are small tips that we can follow to make things easier for them and also us. Here are a few tips that will help you take better care of your grandparents and keep them happy always.

Learn and understand the condition

Educate yourself about the condition that your elders are suffering from. This will help you know and understand their problem better. Remember, they can’t remember things and hence, repeat stories and messages again and again to you. So, don’t get irritated by them and answer them with patience and love. Remember, what they are suffering from today, tomorrow you may also be at their position.

Don’t treat your elders as kids. They are both different cases. Always remember how patient your parents or grandparents were when you were a kid and would ask them the same question repeatedly. This will give you strength from within to care for your elder with more love.

Coping with elders suffering from Dementia, Alzheimer’s and repeating

Validation, Distraction and Redirection…These are the three golden keys that will help you cope up with an elder suffering from dementia, Alzheimer or repeating.

Validation

Validation means agreeing to what your granny says. If they say the grass in Blue, don’t argue with them and simply validate their answer by saying, “Oh yes! It does look a little blue form this angle”. This won’t continue the discussion ahead and everything will be normal.

But yes, use validation with a lot of thought as it can sometimes cause problems as well. For instance, if your granny sees a war film and gets frightened, and keeps asking you if a war was going on, Saying Yes will only scare them more. In such a condition, not validating to the elders is only just.

Distraction

If your elders keep repeating a story again and again, try and distract them to another topic. Talk about kids, school or your friends, but just change the topic.

Redirection

Distraction and Redirection are 2 very closely related aspects. In order to make your elders remember people and things, always keep videos and DVDs of old TV shows, or pictures that they enjoyed watching. Point out the people in the DVDs and pictures, naming them so that they remember the people. This will interest and relax them as well.

Image Source: Huffingpost.com