If you’re the caregiver of a loved one who recently experienced a traumatic brain injury, you will likely need to find support and resources to help them maintain their quality of life.
The severity of a traumatic brain injury can vary, meaning the type of care a senior needs could differ too. Some seniors with TBI are still independent or may recover, while others need substantial long-term care.
When you do your research, you can find long-term care in both assisted living and memory care communities. While not all communities can provide seniors with this type of care, communities like Kensington Redwood City have specially-trained staff that can.
Learn more about traumatic brain injuries, how to care for someone with a traumatic brain injury, the level of care needed, when to choose a long-term care program, and when to transition your loved one to a memory care community.
What are the causes and effects of traumatic brain injury?
The most common causes of traumatic brain injuries are falls, motor vehicle accidents, attempted suicide, and assault.
While there are other ways for a senior to suffer a brain injury, more than half are due to falls.
Seniors are more susceptible to falls, slips, and trips, making it essential to fall-proof their homes, especially for older adults who are already prone to memory loss and cognitive decline.
Having Alzheimer’s disease and dementia increases the risk of a senior falling or having another accident. Their motor skills, coordination, and balance will decline as their diseases progresses.
When a senior experiences a traumatic brain injury, it can be difficult for them to recover. As we age, our bodies heal more slowly. A fall and brain injury can even lead to death in a senior.
Caregivers can decrease the chances of their loved ones experiencing a serious brain injury by ensuring they have a safe place to live.
How do you handle long term care TBI?
Caring for someone with a brain injury can be emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting.
Seniors with a minor or moderate brain injury may be alert, capable of carrying out the tasks of daily living and experience few symptoms.
As a caregiver, your goal may be to keep your loved one safe by preventing future accidents from occurring. You will also want to ensure they get enough rest, are eating a healthy diet, and participate in light exercise.
It would also be beneficial to monitor your senior loved ones mood and cognitive skills, as it can be helpful to their recovery process, treatment, and healthcare professionals.
If your loved one has experienced a severe brain injury, their needs may be too much for you to take on alone.
Often, severe brain injuries require resources and specialized care that a caregiver does not have access to. If a senior’s brain injury needs specialized care, the best way to help them is to find them a home with long-term care options.
There are assisted living and memory care communities that focus on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and can help with brain injury recovery.
Determine a senior’s level of care
To determine your loved ones level of care, the best first step would be to visit a brain injury center. At Kensington Place Redwood City, our Director of Memory Care, Molly Young, completes an assessment that determines the resident’s ideal level of care that suits their need.
A medical professional can evaluate your loved one’s condition and explain the type of treatment and care they need to thrive.
Once you understand your senior loved ones needs, you can choose in-home care, an assisted living facility, or a memory care community.
Seniors that are independent may enjoy remaining in their homes, while others could benefit more from an assisted living community, where they would feel less isolated. Socializing and life-enrichment activities can help seniors repair and maintain their brain health.
Just because your loved one has a TBI does not mean they need to go right into memory care. However, if they do, Kensington Place Redwood City offers two memory care neighborhoods.
By designing two memory care neighborhoods, we can give our residents the proper amount of care they need in a home they feel comfortable in.
Choose a long-term care facility for TBI rehabilitation
The best assisted living and memory care communities will provide their residents with long-term care rehabilitation programs.
Some of the most beneficial programs include:
- Physical therapy: Helps seniors gain maximum mobility and restore function abilities
- Occupational therapy: Helps seniors adapt to life changes and improve functional abilities, such as motor-skills used to eat, dress, and bathe
- Speech- therapy: Helps seniors learn how to communicate and help them with swallowing or chewing problems
- Art therapy: Stimulates the imagination, reduce agitation, and practice motor-skills
- Music therapy: Helps to soothe anxious or agitated seniors and prompts reminiscing of old memories
- Pet therapy: Can soothe agitation, provide comfort, and delay memory loss
- Therapeutic recreation: Helps seniors socialize, recover, and improve their psychological and physical health
- Wellness: Helps seniors maintain and improve their overall health and stick to a nutritional diet
A dedicated enhanced memory care community
Our team at Kensington Place Redwood City knows how devastating a traumatic brain injury can be for seniors and their loved ones.
It’s Our Promise to love and care for your family as we do our own. We uphold this promise by meeting our resident’s needs with high-level care and comprehensive services.
We are proud to use state-of-the-art sensors that alert staff to resident needs or changes in routines that warrant attention
Our memory care communities offer around-the-clock care, on-site nurses, medication administration, diabetes management, including injections, on-site geriatric rehabilitation, life-enrichment activities, and exquisite dining services.
Contact us to learn more about our two memory care communities, connections, and new haven, to see where your loved one can truly “age in place” comfortably.