SAN ANTONIO – For some, a change in weather can change your day-to-day routines, such as driving a different route if there’s water on the road or starting your car a few minutes early because of the heat.
But for those living with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, the changes in temperature, daylight or even daily routines can present challenges.
Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disease that gradually affects your memory, thinking, and ability to perform everyday tasks and activities. Around 460,000 Texans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Ginny Funk, director of programs at the Alzheimer’s Association, said Alzheimer’s can make it more difficult for a person to understand, regulate, or communicate what is happening with their body temperature. That can make hot weather particularly concerning.
“For someone with Alzheimer’s and dementia, their brain is not telling them those messages, and so oftentimes they don’t drink near enough, especially in summertime and hot months,” Funk said.
Heat isn’t the only weather-related concern. The transition from summer into fall and winter brings shorter days and earlier sunsets. Funk said those changes can increase confusion because activities that once took place during daylight may suddenly happen after dark or need to be changed altogether.
“When you have shorter days, and it gets darker earlier, you have more susceptibility to falls, to not necessarily understanding again, ‘Why can’t we go do this like we always would have done this before?’” Funk said.
Those disruptions can also contribute to confusion and agitation, she said. That means the biggest weather-related challenge for someone living with Alzheimer’s may not always be the rain, cold or heat itself — it may be what the weather does to a familiar routine.
For example, if an afternoon walk is canceled because of rain or darkness arrives earlier than it did several weeks before, a caregiver may have to change the plan without expecting the person living with Alzheimer’s to understand why fully.
For caregivers, Funk recommends looking ahead while recognizing that preparation does not require perfection.
“So we kind of say plan, but planning doesn’t mean you have to have perfection,” Funk said. “Planning means maybe looking ahead at the weather, seeing what might possibly be happening.”
During hot weather, caregivers may also need to pay particular attention to hydration. For more resources, such as information, education or support groups for the San Antonio chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, visit their website.
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