Honey, Where Are The Car Keys?
Q: My mother is always losing, hiding and hoarding things, I am losing my mind! What can I do to get her to stop?
A: This is a great question and I have a lot of material to work with.
My grand mother had made me the most beautiful doilies. One resident in my adult family home insisted that they were the ones she had made and took them when I wasn't looking. I would put her in bed at night only to find my doilies hidden in her diaper.
After dinner one evening we discovered a client's $3000.00 dollar pair of hearing aids wrapped up in a nice little napkin and stuffed in her drinking cup.
Some residents would go through others belongings, when I would suggest that they stop because the purse belonged to someone else, they would reply, "I know that" and would continue digging.
The weirdest experience I had was a resident who liked to clothes shop so much that she would go shopping in other peoples closets.
Invariably, just when you need something, it has disappeared, whether it's your doilies, car keys, glasses, or hearing aids. Hiding, hoarding and losing things are very common things you have to deal with when you are caring for a person with Alzheimer's.
To cut down on the prospect of losing very important things, here is a list of things to do to help you.
1. Simplify your surroundings. You would be amazed at how much easier it is to care for a person with Alzheimer's if you aren't surrounded by clutter. If you lose something, you will have less to sort through to find it.
2. Keep really important things in a locked and secure place.
3. Childproof your cabinets and doors that you don't want your loved one rummaging through.
4. Don't leave things lying around.
5. Keep your loved ones glasses, hearing aids, and teeth in a plastic container or tub when you put them to bed at night. That way you will always know where they are in the morning.
Here are a few other things to keep in mind.
1. People with Alzheimer's like to put their teeth and hearing aids in their napkins at meal time. Always check napkins before throwing them into the trash.
2. Check their wastebaskets before you throw out the trash.
3. Check their pockets before doing the laundry-if they haven't put something of value in them, I can almost guarantee that there is a Kleenex in them, a load of laundry washed with a Kleenex is the not very fun.
4. If a person with Alzheimer's is a wanderer you will want to check the sides of their chairs frequently also.
While you may not be able to stop this behavior all together you might be able to control it a bit better with these tips.
Renee "Dutchy" Reeves is an Elder Care Consultant with over 10 years of working with the elderly and their families. Her online advice column, "Ask Dutchy" provides practical ideas and advice for assisting the elderly with Alzheimer's disease, Dementia, Parkinson's, disability, and those needing long term care.
MORE RESOURCES:
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
When the Box is Empty
The King had a modest kingdom. He was Danish.
Arizona Senior Housing: Care Options for Seniors Who Can No Longer Live Alone
The following are a few of the care options available for seniors who can no longer live on their own and require assistance with their Activities of Daily Living (ADL), or require skilled nursing care. Every state is a little different in terms of availability and cost, state regulations, and the specific names used for each care option:Assisted Living Home- A facility consisting of 10 or fewer residents in a private home setting located in residential neighborhoods.
Mom Wont Participate!
Q: Six months ago we placed my mother in an assisted living facility. She gets along fairly well, but we thought she would get involved with all of the activities.
The Truth About Christmas
Every year, as Christmas approaches, you hear Christmas carols everywhere. Sometimes to the point where another Silent Night would make you want to silent the sound system.
5 Myths You Should Know Before Choosing Elder Care
Myths associated with selecting quality nursing home care suggest quick and easy ways to identify quality care. In fact, relying on these myths can lead to disastrous results.
Marketing, Selling, and Serving the Older Adult, Senior Citizens, Family Caregivers
Are your clients pleased by the fine quality service that you provide? Validating your clients' endorsement of you through Certification as a Senior Approved Service will increase your client base. Senior Approved Certification leads a family towards a service like yours side stepping the possibility of connecting with a less than desirable service.
Caring for Aging Relatives
It happens somewhat slowly in the beginning, maybe with a small cough that gets worse as time goes on. It might simply begin with absent mindedness which is totally out of character, followed by total memory lapses.
Paying For Elder Care Just Got Easier
It's not a surprise that thousands of families across the nation are facing the challlenges of an aging population. The "sandwich" generation, those who are caring for their children as well as their parents, have been feeling the financial pinch of caring for loved ones.
Strategies on Paying for Nursing Home Care and Medicaid
The decision to place your loved one into a nursing home is an
extremely difficult decision, often causing much guilt for the
caregiver. It is a very emotional decision for most clients we see and
most are under a certain amount of stress, often great, when facing what
they consider to be a drastic course of action.
Helping Caregivers Get Comfortable Asking For Help
Becoming a care giver might not have been a conscious decision on your part. It may have arrived quietly and unnoticed because you are the adult child of your elderly parents who now require care or you may have a special needs child that exacts your constant attention or a friend or spouse has become very ill and needs your support.
Long Term-Care; 70 Million Americans Will Be Over 65 by 2003
We will all grow old; this is a given. We will all have health issues as we grow older, this also is a given.
Scaling Down (Almost) Painlessly
Moving to a smaller house or apartment in a retirement community almost always involves a certain degree of trauma, both for the elder who's moving and for family members. However, by planning ahead you can reduce the discomfort involved and turn what might well become a nightmare into a pleasant event.
Senior Care for Alzheimer's
As a person ages, a certain amount of memory loss and confusion is quite normal. Personally, I've been known to invoke the cliché, "The older I get, the better I was!" Unfortunately, Alzheimer's disease represents a more serious loss of mental sharpness and calls for special care for seniors.
As the Baby Boomers Age
Many employees today are calling in sick - not to care for themselves or their children, but to care for their aging parents. Baby boomers are rapidly moving into the role of caregivers for their parents, but with a few extra challenges due to the changing face of our workforce.
Advocate For Senior Citizens - Protecting Against Abuse and Fraud
Ruth is 87 years old this year and has been living alone since 1997. She is in good health, however the daily chores around the home became increasingly difficult.
What You Need to Know About Helping Senior Citizens
IntroductionThe baby boomers is the population which haven taken birth after second world war till 1965 when there was a tremendous increase in birth rate due to the social and economic development in the USA. Now this population is going into the old age and thus bringing a burden to the nation as the country has to take care of not only the food and shelter but also the medical care.
Assisted Living Facilities - What Are They?
Assisted Living facilities are generally for person's 60 years of age and older. Typical candidates need assistance with "Activities of Daily Living" (ADLs), but wish to live as independently as possible.
The Best Investment You Can Make Right Now: Long Term Care Insurance
Don't think you need it? Consider this: a full 50% of Americans over the age of 50 will need long term care at some point in their lives. The average cost of nursing facility care (or home health care assistance) is $61,000 per year, and the average stay in a long term care facility is 2½ years.
The Golden Years
1) What does Adrian Mitchell say we do to people when their working lives are over?Adrian says that "when a man's too ill to work we punish him", rob him of half his income or replace it with "pocket money" and or place him in a retirement home to sit out the remainder of his live in isolation.2) What does he think about this?Adrian thinks that "the old people are being robbed" and says "to hell with retiring" he believes that the way that deal with old people (to have your ability to sport yourself removed and then being given "pocket money").
Why Everyone Over 50 Should be Training for the Senior Games
by Phil Campbell, M.S.
|