Dementia and Sleep

If you are the caregiver for an older adult with dementia, one issue you may have is difficulty in getting them to sleep. While it isn’t always easy to pinpoint the cause of insomnia in seniors with dementia, it can be exhausting to both the caregiver and the senior in question.

It can be hard for people with dementia to process too much information through the day, or deal with an overly busy environment. When a senior with dementia has a hectic schedule, it may cause them to feel agitated and make unwinding later in the day difficult for them. This naturally will cause issues with falling and staying asleep.

One way to combat this is to make sure to schedule activities and appointments as early as possible in the day, which will allow you to keep afternoons and evenings quieter. Try turning the television off in the evening and replace it with soothing music or nature sounds. Give them magazines or old photo albums to leaf through, which should help to keep things peaceful and relaxing.

Sleep apnea is another common disorder which stops and restarts breathing during sleep. This can prevent a person from getting enough oxygen, which results in poor quality sleep. A physician might be able to order an in-home sleep study instead of one based out of a sleep clinic, which can help a senior with dementia remain at ease and more easily fall asleep for it.

Adults with memory issues often do better when their days are structured and have a predictable routine. Researchers think this is because a routine requires less short-term memory, which is impacted early in the disease progression.