Many people may have noticed their older relatives and friends get confused, annoyed or start forgetting things and pacing every evening a little bit before dinner.
According to experts, this could be a sign that they are experiencing "sundowning syndrome."
"Sundowning is a host of symptoms that usually present themselves with people either exhibiting Alzheimer's or dementia, or with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's or dementia," explained John O'Brien, the regional director at Assisted Living Homecare Services in Westport.
O'Brien says it you start to notice the behavior as a pattern in someone, the first step should be to bring them to a doctor who can confirm it is sundowning, and not something else, like a urinary tract infection or dehydration.
"The brain triggers with light and time," O'Brien says. "So the ticker in your brain that's really telling you it's 3 o'clock, you may think it's 6 o'clock, and that's really where the unsettling begins in that early afternoon, evening time."
Research shows the best things to do for someone experiencing sundowning are to make sure they keep a regular schedule, get a lot of exposure to sunlight during the day to help regulate their internal clock and make sure they are comfortable and reassured.
"They may not understand what's going on," O'Brien says. "The earlier you can intervene with sundowning, the better quality of life your loved one is going to have."
While there is no known cure for sundowning syndrome, O'Brien says the symptoms can be managed, especially with the help of a non-medical home caregiver who has been specifically trained for it.
Assisted Living Homecare Services helps provide those sorts of aides, who O'Brien says are "able to take our clients out and about in the community, and get them exposed to sunlight, maybe watch their favorite show with them on tv that we know settles them."
O'Brien says the more time the aides spend with the clients, the more comfortable they get with each other, and the more the aides will recognize the signs and know the needs of the clients.
