Keeping Dementia Sufferer Occupied

NotSpaghetti

What a great site Primrose53
(Made me weep though!)

Such lovely photos of her mum.

creative-carer.com/

Here's the link.

It’s a beautiful site and Heather is a beautiful person. Our Mums were very alike - close in age, both at similar stage of dementia, both very creative ladies and both still liked to be occupied. My Mum passed away slightly before Heather’s Mum and they sent me a lovely handmade card. We stay in touch.

What a great site Primrose53
(Made me weep though!)

Such lovely photos of her mum.

creative-carer.com/

Here's the link.

My mum loved her robotic cat. It wasn't cheap, but it was a joy for her.

Some great and unusual suggestions on here.

AmberGran I particularly loved your idea of a box containing lots of things of particular interest to your dad.

Does she have a "dementia radio"

This one is good - and can have a memory stick of "favourites" inside too.

Sorry for long link!

relish-life.com/en-es/collections/music/products/relish-radio?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=18133760349&utm_content=&utm_term=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=18133760349&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18327942697&gbraid=0AAAAAD4EotYi-sKUO7fjRBCYwPD7Sb7Ax&gclid=CjwKCAjw1IHTBhAaEiwA4AYNFnaTjr99-d8uy3XgmUqFxIFodOrLDzDJx33ziHJ1eTAZExSlbpHsqxoCMigQAvD_BwE

There are some good ideas here. With regard to tv programmes anything that is visual . My Dad loved Last of the Summer Wine, Mr Bean good to. Also something he enjoyed looking at was a book about the rain forest which had lovely colorful photos.

Was the film 'Remarkably Bright Creatures'? 🐙

My father used to love to fold a basket of laundered towels and linens. Ever so neatly.

There are volunteers who sit with elderly people, including those with dementia, perhaps about once a week. Otherwise some just phone for a chat if you think that might help. Contact your local dementia group for info.

My husband who is in his 6th year of dementia likes all ball sports and horse racing which does drive me mad but he also likes anything with David Attenborough because he can’t really follow films anymore, also Disney films or films with animals in that are really for children but again he doesn’t have to follow a plot which he cannot do anymore. If I want a couple of hours to myself I will put a film on (he enjoyed a Netflix one recently with an octopus in?) can’t remember the name but it was a gentle film I know he’ll enjoy watching again.

We made a box for my Dad that sat on the table near him. Every now and again he would look at it as if he had never seen it before and open it. Inside we had a whole load of things that were relevant to my Dad's life and interests but nothing that would take too much focus and concentration. He would pick things up and examine them and put them down again.

He was a technician and ex-RAF and his box included:

A small photo album of people he loved
A couple of small model aeoplanes
A child's meccano set with big pieces that he could screw together
Pens, pencils and paper to write on
A childs camera (he loved photography all his life)
A book of maps and a small globe
Some knitted gloves and a scarf made by my Sis-in-L
Some of those small squeezy ball things to exercise his fingers
A Broons annual
Other fiddle things that I can't remember now.

The box gave him a choice of what he wanted to do at any time depending on what state he was in.

Some Smart Tvs have various programmes like screen savers. There are ones with various birds flying in and out and watery landscapes.

Counting money, sorting buttons, simple work bench type things. We heard of one man who changed plugs regularly and a woman who folded pillowcases. And a woman who cleaned silver.

You can get robot dogs and cats. go on amazon to see come of the options.

My Dad likes travel programmes, eg Michael Portillo's train journeys and currently the two Canal Boat series.
One episode recently featured the Anderton Boat Lift, which we'd been to on an excursion a couple of years ago. Dad recognised it.
He's also a fan of Susan Calman, especially her motor home travels. Mum and Dad had a couple of motor homes over the years.

The issue is, they can’t concentrate for very long as the mind just wanders off to something else, so chances of anything keeping her occupied for a period of time will be a challenge.Im a companion for ladies with early onset dementia.

Try some programmes for pre-schoolers.
Simple short features and lots of repetition rather than an adult storyline.

My friend loved the teletubbies and actually I quite enjoyed them too watching with her. I’m sure there’s something similar on nowadays.

There are long tranquil videos of walks with no commentary, on youtube . Here is one - with an ad to skip at the beginning.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCzafEo2VaQ&utm_source=copilot.com
There are others but this is a start and might be a good companon for someone with dementia - or someone who just wants a mental rest.

Music might help. My next door neighbour had dementia and could no longer recognise me or any of her friends.

She could, however, play the piano beautifully,note perfect. She loved listening to music too through some comfortable headphones.

I used to visit a lady who was a typist in her younger years, she was very excited when I gave her a keyboard to type with, it wasn't connected to anything but she enjoyed typing on it just the same.

Plevey08

Those fiddling and sorting ideas are good Miss Adventure. My DF loved folding carrier bags incredibly neatly.

It's quite amazing, the things people can do; and have the patience to do!'

Check out Creative Carer.org. Heather’s Mum had dementia and she came up with hundreds of ideas to keep her occupied. She now shares all her ideas and tips and is a lovely lady. Our Mums both had dementia and passed away at a similar time.

Those fiddling and sorting ideas are good Miss Adventure. My DF loved folding carrier bags incredibly neatly.

I always found people seemed to get quite engrossed with sorting out things like button boxes, or bags of yarn.
A lot of "fiddlers" fiddle because they're looking for things to do.
Can she knit or crochet?
If not, just tidying up the wool might occupy her.

Some of "my" ladies enjoyed undoing the knots, and rewinding bags of jumbled up wool, and tidying up sewing box contents.

What did she do for a job?

I know you said she can’t do jigsaws any more but you could try those specially for people with dementia. They have about 20 really big pieces.

If you go down the twiddle muff route please make sure the pieces sewn on are very secure because they can be a choking hazard.