Dementia care in Birmingham

At times, receiving a diagnosis can feel like a relief after prolonged uncertainty. But when it comes to the practicalities of care, having an experienced dementia provider for support is crucial.

Our dedicated Bluebird Care Birmingham West team will be able to advise and support you with every stage of your or your loved one’s dementia journey.

What is Dementia?

The word "dementia" does get used a lot, but how many people actually know what it means?

If you know a someone with dementia, or are living with dementia yourself understanding what dementia is can be overwhelming.

According to Alzheimer's Society, Dementia is a group of symptoms that is caused by different diseases that damage the brain. The symptoms typically get worse over time and include:

• memory loss

• confusion and needing help with daily tasks

• changes in behaviour

• problems with language and understanding

What causes dementia?

Dementia is not an inevitable consequence of aging. Instead, it results from a disease that impairs nerve cells in the brain.

Nerve cells carry messages between different parts of the brain, as well as to other parts of the body. As more and more nerve cells are damaged, the brain becomes less able to work properly and function normally. 

Dementia can be caused by many different diseases. These diseases affect the brain in different ways, resulting in different types of dementia. 

What are the different types of dementia?

Dementia manifests in four primary types, affecting each person differently, albeit with common early symptoms. An estimated 95% of people with dementia have one of these four main types.

It is also possible to experience mixed dementia, which includes symptoms from more than one type.

Alzheimer's disease

The most prevalent form of dementia is Alzheimer's. Typically, the initial indications of Alzheimer's manifest as cognitive difficulties - impairing memory, perception, language, and thought affecting one's mental capacity.

Vascular dementia

Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia. Common early signs of include problems with planning or organising, making decisions or solving problems. 

lewy body dementia

DLB (dementia with Lewy bodies) is a condition that stems from Lewy body disease.

It shares various symptoms with Parkinson's disease like focus issues, delusions, movement troubles and sleep difficulties.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is a less prevalent subtype of dementia that's also interchangeably known as Pick's disease or frontal lobe dementia.

Its symptoms typically include alterations in personality and behaviour, or problems with language and communication.

What are the symptoms of dementia?

Each person experiences dementia in their own individual way. Different types of dementia also tend to affect people differently, especially in the early stages before the condition progresses.

However, there are some early signs and symptoms of dementia which include:

• memory loss – for example, problems recalling things that happened recently

• difficulty concentrating and focusing – e.g. struggling to make decisions, solve problems or follow a series of steps

• challenges with language and communication – e.g. difficulties following a conversation with someone else, or finding difficulty in finding the right words

• misunderstanding what is being seen – for example, problems judging distances (such as on stairs) or misinterpreting patterns or reflections

• being disoriented and unsure of the time or location - this can include losing track of the date or becoming uncertain of your surroundings

• experiencing sudden mood swings or struggle with regulating emotions. This can include feelings of anxiety, irritability, sadness, or fear, as well as a loss of interest in activities and changes in personality.

With some types of dementia, the person may have difficulty knowing what is real and what isn’t.

It is possible for individuals to also experience hallucinations or hold delusional beliefs.

Why is care important for Dementia?

Having a dementia diagnosis can be very unsettling for all concerned, which is why having the right dementia care support to help both you and your loved ones is critical to allow you to live independently in the comfort of your familiar surroundings for as long as possible.

Dementia care provided by our dementia trained team at Bluebird Care Birmingham West is a form of condition-led support that focuses on helping individuals with the unique challenges associated with dementia.

Whether you or a loved one needs it, our team is here to provide dedicated care in the most comforting and familiar place of all - home sweet home.

We train our carers to specialise in dementia care so that they will be able to follow a routine that your loved one is used to and comfortable with, maintaining their independence as much as possible.

What are the things that Dementia home care could support you with?

Firstly, its important to note that every case of dementia is unique which is why we have carers that are specialised in caring for individuals with dementia to offer you or a loved one a care plan that is created on their dementia symptoms.

Dementia home care care support you with:

Responsive support

Our dementia care is responsive and can be adapted as your needs change, which is essential when supporting a person with dementia.

Emotional support

Our care support goes beyond the day to day care but is also in place to ensure both you and your loved ones and your family members are emotionally supported.

Experienced and trained carers

We are proud to have the carers we do and train them to a high level in understanding dementia. We also have regular refresher training in line with care quality commission (CQC) guidelines to ensure we are levering the best and latest care training.

A familiar environment

Staying at home for care means you or your loved one can manage and adapt to their symptoms in the comfort of their own surroundings

Fall prevention and management

We’ll work with you and your family to ensure you home is safe and accessible and free of hazards, and more importantly ensure they are confident moving around.

Home care vs a care home for specialist dementia care

"From our experience, there is no doubt that the best care for anyone who has dementia is home care. Being able to stay in the comfort of your own home, which in many cases is where a customer have lived for a significant amount of time, is imperative to providing a more comfortable and safer environment to deliver care", Indy Goraya, Director at Bluebird Care Birmingham West.

When a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia and is no longer able to live safely lonely, it can be difficult to know what your options are.

What is important is that you make a decision sooner rather than later to ensure your protect your loved one's health, safety and wellbeing.

The most important thing to consider when you are assessing care options is that you are proactive to carefully assess and weigh up the pros and cons of residential care (within a care home) vs home care options, which could be hourly care or live in care.

The care options can be confusing when you are balancing what's right for you and your loved one, the financial implications and emotional surroundings.

However, there are many options that allow you to access the right support and maintain your loved ones safety, independence and dignity

Benefits of dementia care in your own home

If you are looking for specialist support in relation to providing the best care to a loved one who has dementia, often it may seem like the only option is a residential care home.

However, the demand for 24-hour dementia care at home is growing rapidly due to its enhanced safety and improved care standards, and is promoted by many dementia experts.

Live-in care offers numerous benefits for those with dementia and should be considered when deciding between care home and home care options.

Care is in place to help you and your loved ones in relation to dementia care but also personal care.

Contact us today

There are a number of home care benefits for those diagnosed with Dementia that enable patients to live happier and healthier.

With dementia home care, our team truly believe it is possible to live an enriched lifestyle with dementia based on a personalised care approach – as we are helping to do day in day out to some of our current customers.

If you are interested in finding more about how our team at Bluebird Care Birmingham West can help with providing high quality care in relation to you or a loved one that may have been diagnosed with Dementia then please reach out to us by calling our team on 0121 803 6787 or sending us an email on birminghamwest@bluebirdcare.co.uk.