How Therapeutic Care Adapts Over Time

Care is not something you set once and walk away from. It changes as people change, and in fact therapeutic care requires flexibility to meet evolving needs. The child who has suffered a traumatic event has a different set of needs at the age of eight as compared to at age fifteen, and the older person who is already old with a decline in cognitive ability requires more hands-on assistance with the course of time. The wrong thing that many systems and families commit is to treat care plans as something fixed when they should be flexible.

Frontotemporal dementia provides one bright example of the necessity to be adapted. The 7 stages of frontotemporal dementia show how someone's needs escalate from mild personality changes to full physical dependence. 

In the initial stages, one would only require reminders. Later, they are not able to dress or know family names. In stage two, care is rendered useless in stage five. Therefore, Therapeutic Care must evolve as dementia progresses.

A moment of connection and comfort, highlighting the essence of therapeutic care.

Why Rigid Care Plans Fail

In the majority of care systems, it is assumed that after developing a plan, one adheres to it. Families receive a checklist, caregivers follow the procedures, and everybody hopes that things will remain unchanged. But people are not stable. Their bodies decay unexpectedly.

Their need of emotions vary. What worked last month will be a distressing thing this month.

A teenager who is initially responding in response to talk therapy may require something more corporeal in the future, like art or movement-based therapy. A senior citizen who has dementia may enjoy activities in a group at the initial stages and be perplexed and aggravated by the same as the illness worsens.

More than two-thirds of children have reported having at least one traumatic experience by the age of sixteen and what appeases a scared six year old will not help a more defensive twelve year old who needs a new language and new demarcations. Importantly, Therapeutic Care for children must adapt across developmental stages.

The Way Care Evolves Within the Life Stages

Children are to be given attention that fosters trust and brings about security. Their brains are developed, their social environment is broadened and they are able to express their feelings better. These changes should not be opposed by care but should be followed by it.

The same approach will be demanded by the caregiver year after year and the child will either withdraw or rebel.

Adults with chronic disease or psychological problems require evaluations on a regular basis. Helping therapy in crisis might be chooking in recovery. The dosage of medication can be altered. Depending on the manageability of the person, support networks increase or shrink. It is the task of the caregiver to observe these changes and act in time before things get out of hand.

It becomes more challenging to adapt with old people, especially the ones with cognitive deficits. Language, motor abilities, and memory decline dissimilarly. An individual who was able to dress himself/herself last month may not be able to dress himself/herself this month and a person who liked to talk, may find it dragging this month.

Caregivers need to be trained to observe non-verbal communication, make some adjustments, and to unlearn habits that work so that eventually they can learn the new ones.

Furthermore, Therapeutic Care involves ongoing education for caregivers.

What Therapeutic Care Cautiously Really Spells

Adaptive care does not concern only how we respond to all small twists and turns. It is also about the creation of systems that are resistant to change without a sense of disorder.

This begins with observation. Caregivers should monitor trends, not individual behaviours. Is the person sleeping less? Do they do things they no longer love to do? Do they at some times of the day get more agitated?

Communication appears in various ways in regards to ability of the person. Frequent cheque-ins are useful to an individual who is still able to communicate his/her needs. To an individual with advanced dementia, communication is more of body language, use of tones of voice and the environment. These more subtle forms of expression have to be mastered by caregivers.

Flexibility in the care plan is equally significant as flexibility of the caregivers themselves. Burnout existent, and demeans all. Approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults reported at least one adverse childhood experience, which means many caregivers bring their own trauma history into the work. 

Caregivers report improvement when they are supported and they are able to alter their approaches, which in turn results in the better performance of those who receive their care.

Practising Steps to Therapeutic Care

You do not have to re-invent everything. Small changes work. Cheque the care plan more frequently than every crisis; not only at the time of crisis. Question what is working, what is not and how things have changed. Write it down. When you follow patterns they become crystal clear. In short, Therapeutic Care prioritises regular review and adjustment.

Build routines that can bend. Rather than inflexible schedules allocate yourself buffer time.

When an individual takes more time to eat a breakfast or dress, it adds pressure when one is in a hurry. Allow for slower mornings. Build in rest periods. Whether you can help it, let the person set the pace.

Be sensitive to bodily requirements. The light, sound and touch sensitivity changes as conditions advance. It is possible to find a room comfortable last month which now may seem too light or noisy. Minor modifications may be made to the environment to avoid distress until it becomes a big problem.

Also READ - Healing Emotional Trauma After Physical Injury

Lastly, associate with other caregivers. Seclusion complicates adapting in cases where there is need. Other human beings are the ones who see what you may not even see. They are capable of bringing new insights and viable approaches that would be helpful in the actual world as opposed to theory.