By Geri Richards Hall, PhD, ARNP, CNS, FAAN
What can be done in case of emergency? Do you know of
medical services in the areas you travel to? Do you need
to take special medications with you in case of
agitation? Having a plan can save hours of stress and
panic.
What are the care receiver's limitations and
strengths?
As a general rule, the more advanced the disease, the
more difficult travel will be. For example, care
receivers who are still relatively independent and care
for themselves will have fewer problems with travel than
someone who requires direction to bathe and change their
clothing. Also, people with behavioral problems such as
paranoia or delusions (missed perceptions, fears, or
fixed false beliefs or thoughts) have a more difficult
time even when intellectual skills are relatively good.
As a rule, someone who requires assistance with bathing,
changing clothing, dressing, and toileting will have
significant difficulty even with short, simple overnight
trips. At time when it may be easier for retired people
to visit adult children who work, it may be better to
have the children visit you—even if it means paying for
their travel.
Care receivers who exhibit any of the following
behaviors should avoid overnight travel unless in an
emergency:
- Become physically or verbally aggressive
- Missed perceptions, have paranoid thoughts,
hallucinations, or delusions (for example, think
people steal from them)
- Become confused during or after social outings
- Wake at night confused
- Have poorly managed incontinence (or who require
special assistance or equipment with feeding if
public dining rooms must be used)
- Have episodes where they do not recognize their
caregiver
- Fall
- Yell, scream, or cry spontaneously
- Resist or argue with their caregiver's
directions
- Wander or pace
- Demand to leave social settings or restaurants
early
- Are easily frightened, confused or agitated
- Are unable to communicate their needs to others
- Have unstable medical conditions
Assess the caregiver's limitations
There are also caregiver-related issues to be
considered. Caregivers should avoid traveling with their
impaired person if they (the caregiver) have any of the
following characteristics:
- Become upset or can not manage well during a
crisis
- Are embarrassed when their loved one acts out or
does something embarrassing
- Have unstable or complicated health problems
- Are embarrassed to go into an opposite sex
restrooms to supervise their loved one
- Are unable to manage in high stress situations
or with little sleep
- Insist on maintaining strict honesty and argue
with their loved one about mistakes and missed
perceptions
