My experience as a dementia care specialist: Shezmin

My journey of being a Care Specialist began in the rural parts of Goa where I used to screen seniors with memory loss and mild confusions. I have also worked with their families and made them aware about the condition called Dementia. Now since last two years, I have been with Samvedna Care and have been visiting people with dementia and closely working with them. In both the settings, be it rural or urban the common need amongst the patients is love, assurance, support and care. Despite the cognitive decline, the underlying needs of our loved ones are the same. The emotional security which we as caregivers often have difficulty understanding.

When professionals like us visit them, we give them an opportunity to express themselves through our interactions. This is only possible if we are able to establish a good rapport with them. Dementia may take away their memories but still they are there somewhere and they acknowledge our presence through different ways. One of my clients whom I visit thrice a week doesn’t remember my name but she responds to my touch. When I hold her hand, she holds me tight and feels assured which is very evident from her nonverbal communication. It’s rewarding to get acknowledged by them in some way.

For us, every day is a new day. Some days are excellent when we can engage them in different interventions but some are not very fruitful. One of the common challenges is during hospital visits when they are not able to communicate accurately to the doctors about their pain or other complains. We try to understand it and interpret it to the doctors.

We face similar challenges in every step which might be frustrating at times but here we have to understand that our patient is living with this confusion and anxiety every moment of his or her life.

Another very important aspect of our role is providing the much needed respite to the family members who are often living the same emotional journey with their loved ones every day.

Despite the good days and the bad days, the unconditional love which we get from them is ultimately the best reward and it motivates us to do better and bring in some difference in their lives.

We at Samvedna Care aim to help seniors live happy, active and independent lives, in the comfort of their home and community through interactive caregiving.

Samvedna Care was established in October 2013 with two complementary goals – firstly to provide quality home care services to seniors with limited mobility and social interaction due to various constraints, and secondly to facilitate stimulating community interaction and participation.

Our Dementia Care services are –