Dementia and Palliative Care at Home in Saint John
When someone you love is living with dementia or nearing the end of a serious illness, the care they need stops being ordinary help around the house and becomes something more specific. We provide dementia, Alzheimer’s, and palliative support at home for families across Saint John, Rothesay and Quispamsis, with caregivers who have done this particular kind of work before.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care
Memory care works best when it fits the life already there. Our caregivers learn the order your family member likes to do things, the chair they always sit in, and the hour of the day they are steadiest, then they work inside that rather than against it.
- Gentle redirection when the day gets muddled, without correcting or arguing
- Company through sundowning, when the late afternoon turns restless
- Memory cues that keep medications and meals on track
- Overnight presence for wandering and repeated waking
- Hand feeding and small portions of favourite foods as appetite drops
Appetite often falls away as dementia advances, and families read it as something they are doing wrong. It is part of the illness rather than a failure of care. Our caregivers stay with the slow meals and keep you informed about what is actually being eaten, so you and their doctor are seeing the same thing.
Families across New Brunswick can also use the free education and caregiver support programs offered by the Alzheimer Society of New Brunswick, which sit alongside the day-to-day care we provide at home.
Palliative Care at Home
Palliative care is comfort-focused support, and it can begin long before the final weeks. We work with families who want their person to stay in their own bed, in their own home, with the people and things they know around them.
- Personal care and hygiene handled gently, with dignity kept intact
- Help with positioning and getting comfortable through the day and night
- Support with eating and drinking for as long as it is wanted
- Company through the hours that feel longest
- Steady updates so the family always knows how the day went
We do not make clinical decisions. What we do is hold the daily work steady so the people who love them can be present, without being overwhelmed.
The Language They Go Back To
As dementia advances, many people return to the language they grew up speaking, and the language of later life stops coming easily. It changes who can comfort them and who can be understood. We take language, food and family decision–making into account when we plan care and match caregivers, rather than treating them as details to work around.
Overnight Respite So You Can Sleep
Wandering, sundowning and repeated waking leave family caregivers listening for movement all night and never really resting. Overnight respite puts one of our caregivers in the home while you sleep in your own bed, for a single night, a weekend, or on a standing weekly schedule. For most families caring for someone with dementia at home, it is the one change that makes the rest of the arrangement sustainable.
The Same Caregiver,
Week After Week
A rotating cast of strangers is confusing for someone with memory loss and exhausting for everyone else, so we schedule for consistency. A caregiver who has been coming for months notices the small changes first: the new hesitation on the stairs, the meal left untouched, the day the words come harder. Those observations reach you early, while there is still time to act on them.
Book a Free In-Home Consultation
One of our care coordinators comes to you, listens to what the days are really like, and puts together a plan built around your family member’s routines and wishes. There is no cost or obligation at this stage.
Call 1-866-806-7593 or email info@prescare.ca If you need support sooner than that, say so when you call so we can accommodate your loved one.
If your family needs general help at home rather than dementia or palliative support, our Saint John home care page covers daily assistance, meal preparation and companionship.
Book Your Free Consultation
Living well at home starts with a plan built around you: your needs, your preferences, your goals. Prescare offers a free consultation for families in Saint John, Rothesay, and Quispamsis, so get in touch and find out how we can help you and your loved one find balance again. Call 1-866-806-7593 for New Brunswick or 204-333-6230 for Manitoba, or reach out through our website to get started.
Start Your Respite Care Plan
Our experienced, caring team is ready to come to your home and look after your loved one while you take a well-earned break. Fill in our online inquiry form to speak with one of our care coordinators and begin planning your respite care at home.
Questions Often Asked
When Is It Time for Palliative Care?
Most families ask about it later than they need to. There is no prognosis requirement, and starting palliative support does not mean stopping anything else, because it runs alongside whatever other treatment is already in place. With dementia in particular, comfort-focused care can begin years before the final stage. If pain, breathlessness, restlessness or broken sleep are becoming the shape of the day, that is the point to start asking.
What Is the Difference Between Hospice and Palliative Care?
Palliative care is comfort-focused care that can begin at any stage of a serious illness and continue while other treatment carries on. Hospice refers to residential end-of-life care in a dedicated setting, usually in the last months of life. Palliative care is the wider category, and hospice sits inside it. Everything we provide happens at home.
Can You Support Dementia and Palliative Needs at the Same Time?
Yes, and many of the Saint John families we work with are managing both, because advanced dementia is itself a life-limiting illness. The same caregiver can support memory care through the middle stages and stay with your family through the later ones, which spares everyone starting again with someone new.