Penda Senior Home Care

Dementia and Alzheimer’s care

Dementia and Alzheimer’s care at home

People with dementia usually do best in familiar surroundings, with a steady routine and the same few faces. Home care makes that possible for longer. Here’s what dementia care at home involves, and how caregivers handle the hard parts: sundowning, wandering, and refusing care.

Request a free in-home consultation Call (858) 380-9599

Licensing and caregiver screening

  • Licensed Home Care OrganizationCDSS license #374700397

  • Caregivers on the state registryLive Scan fingerprint check (CA DOJ and FBI) and TB test

  • Owned by a registered nurseMildred Kiminyei, RN

How care changes as dementia progresses

Early stage

Your parent still does most things but misses bills, repeats questions, or gets lost driving. Helpful: reminders, meals, rides, company, and a steady routine.

Middle stage

Needs help with bathing, dressing, and the toilet. Confusion late in the day, getting lost, suspicion or anger. Helpful: hands-on personal care, supervision, and more hours.

Late stage

Needs help with everything, may not walk or talk much, may have trouble swallowing. Helpful: full personal care, repositioning, careful feeding, often round-the-clock care alongside hospice.

Why routine matters so much

Dementia makes new information hard to hold onto, so surprises cause stress. A steady routine, like the same wake-up time, the same breakfast, and the same afternoon walk, lowers anxiety and makes care easier to accept. We write your parent’s routine into the care plan so every caregiver follows it.

Mildred Kiminyei is a registered nurse. When your parent suddenly gets worse, she helps sort out whether it’s the dementia progressing or something treatable, like a urinary tract infection or a medication side effect, and whether it’s time to call the doctor.

Sundowning

Many people with dementia become more confused, restless, or upset in the late afternoon and evening. What helps:

  • Daylight and activity earlier in the day
  • Short late-day naps, or none
  • Closing curtains and turning on lights before dark, so shadows don’t confuse
  • No caffeine after lunch
  • Quiet evenings: less TV news, fewer visitors
  • Telling the doctor if it gets worse. Pain, infections, and medication side effects can all make sundowning worse.

Wandering and safety

Wandering is common and dangerous, especially at night. Steps that help:

  • Door alarms or chimes, and extra locks placed high or low, where they aren’t expected
  • An ID bracelet with a phone number
  • A recent photo ready to hand to police
  • Car keys put away once driving isn’t safe
  • An awake caregiver at night if wandering happens after dark

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department runs a free program called Take Me Home. You register your parent’s photo and details, so deputies who find them can identify them and get them home. If your parent goes missing, call 911 right away. Don’t wait.

How caregivers talk with someone who has dementia

  • Approach from the front, at eye level, and say your name
  • Use short sentences and ask one question at a time
  • Offer two choices instead of open questions: “The blue shirt or the red one?”
  • Don’t argue or correct. If your mother asks for her late husband, respond to the feeling (“You miss him”) rather than the fact
  • Redirect instead of refusing: suggest a walk or a snack when agitation builds
  • Break tasks into single steps, and show rather than tell

Caregivers complete dementia training through our online training program, and a registered nurse supervises the care and updates the plan as things change.

When your parent refuses care

Refusing a shower or a new caregiver is common. It usually comes from fear or embarrassment, not stubbornness. A good caregiver tries a different time or approach, or comes back in 15 minutes. Forcing care makes the next time harder.

Dementia care is billed at our hourly rate, $40 to $48 an hour. Hours usually grow as the disease progresses, and many families move to 24-hour care in the later stages.

Dementia help in San Diego County

  • Alzheimer’s San Diego: free education, support groups, and social programs for people with dementia and their families.
  • Southern Caregiver Resource Center: counseling, support groups, and respite help for family caregivers.
  • County of San Diego Aging & Independence Services: information and referrals for older adults and caregivers.

  • Personal Care

    Help with bathing, dressing, toileting, and getting in and out of bed or a chair, with an eye on fall risk.

  • Respite Care

    A caregiver takes over for a few hours, a night, or a week so the family member who usually helps can rest.

  • 24-Hour & Live-In Care

    Caregivers in shifts around the clock, or one live-in caregiver, for someone who can’t safely be alone.

All home care services

Common questions

What’s the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s?

Dementia is the general term for memory and thinking loss serious enough to affect daily life. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause. Others include vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia.

When is home care no longer enough?

When care takes two people, when nights aren’t safe even with an awake caregiver, or when round-the-clock care costs more than the family can keep paying. Memory care communities are built for that stage. We’ll tell you honestly if we think you’ve reached it.

Can a caregiver give my father his dementia medication?

A caregiver can remind him, bring the pill organizer and water, and let you know if he refuses. Caregivers don’t give injections or change doses.

Request a free in-home consultation

Tell us what’s going on and we’ll call you back to talk it through and set up a visit at the home. The consultation is free.

If it’s urgent, call instead of using the form.

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