Brain injuries have huge physical impacts on the people who suffer from them, but they also cause other issues, including behavioral changes. Understanding these changes can help families to ensure that their family members get the right care, especially when they need help around the clock. 24-hour home care can make a big difference for seniors who are recovering from a brain injury. Here are some of the more common behavior changes that families are likely to notice in aging adults after they sustain an injury to their brains.
Trouble Concentrating
Cognitive functions can change significantly for seniors after a brain injury. If these cognitive changes are occurring along with other cognitive issues, like the beginning stages of dementia, they’re compounded and even more difficult to manage. It’s not just that seniors have trouble with complicated thought processes after sustaining an injury to their brains, but they may also be unable to focus on tasks or conversations. Minimizing distractions and breaking tasks down into smaller steps are just two ways that home care helps to manage these issues for seniors.
Memory Problems
Another cognitive function that suffers after brain injury is memory. Both short- and long-term memory processes may suffer after a brain injury. Seniors may have a difficult time remembering recent events, names of family members, or even other people’s faces. Using memory tools, like notes and reminders, can be very helpful for seniors with memory issues. Elder care providers can help aging adults remember to use these tools and to have the support they need with memory concerns.
Personality Changes
Depending on where the brain injury occurs, there may also be obvious personality changes. People who were outgoing extroverts may suddenly be a lot more withdrawn and introverted. These may be permanent changes, so it’s important for family members and friends to understand how to adapt to these personality changes.
Inappropriate Emotional Responses
Brain injuries change more than just how people think. This damage can disrupt emotional regulation, which leads to people experiencing inappropriate emotional responses. One example could be that seniors respond aggressively to a situation that upsets them. Or they might struggle to express how they’re feeling when they’re struggling emotionally.
Denial
Denial is an extremely common side effect of brain injuries. Many times seniors may not fully realize how severe their brain injury actually was. They may also not recognize the changes they’re experiencing in cognition, personality, or emotional responses. Because of that denial, recovery is much more difficult and seniors may not make much progress at all.
Navigating all of these changes can be a massive challenge for family caregivers and for the seniors who are recovering from brain injuries. 24-hour home care providers can tailor the support they offer to aging adults and to family caregivers, depending on the individual needs those seniors are experiencing. Ultimately, it’s about keeping seniors safe and healthy while they continue to live their best lives and recover from all sorts of challenging health issues, including brain injuries.
If you or an aging loved one are considering 24-hour home care in Weston, MA, please contact the caring staff at PlatinumCare + today. Call (617) 237-0867.
PlatinumCare + was born out of the desire and passion to provide the very best home health care possible in Brookline, Dover, Newton, Needham, Watertown, Weston, Cambridge, Lincoln, Sudbury, Belmont, Boston MA, and surrounding areas.
All with decades of experience, Tim in IT Operations, Support, and Management, Brenda in Client Relations, Healthcare Services & Sales Management, and Anne in Healthcare as a Nurse Practitioner combined their skills to form what is now PlatinumCare +.
As immigrants to the US, all came from backgrounds where Healthcare for aging parents was a responsibility of the immediate family and the entire community. Aging, sick, or terminal community members were cared for physically, emotionally, and financially by family, friends, including strangers! This community approach, Healthcare with a difference, delivered with the utmost love, care, sacrifice, and passion, forms the basis of how PlatinumCare + grounds itself.
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