My Nan was diagnosed with Alzheimers in August 2020. Since then, my family and I have done all we can to try and support her. 1 in 8 people over the age of 80 have dementia and a vast majority of these people have Alzheimer’s disease. My Nan is only 67 so it is heart breaking seeing Alzheimers slowly take her memory away.
Of course, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease affects everyone differently and there is no way to cure it. There are medicines and therapies which can delay its symptoms but a lot of things you learn as you go.
These are just a few things that we have found have helped us through some of the very challenging times. As I said, no case of dementia or Alzheimers is the same so these things may not work for everyone or anyone at all – I mean sometimes they don’t even work for my Nan!
1. A signing in board. My Nan went through a period of thinking that her carers had not been as she simply could not remember back to when they had visited her. This caused her, and us, a lot of stress. So, I asked the people on Dementia Talking Point for some help. We were so reassured to see that other people had faced similar issues with their loved ones and had lots of advice to give. One lovely person suggested a signing in and out book in which visitors would write their names and what time they visited. This was a great idea; however, we knew that my Nan would not look in the book herself. We then came up with the idea of having a notice board which we made into a chart with the days of the week and AM and PM. This was a breakthrough! If my Nan became worried in the evening that her carers hadn’t been, we asked her to check the board which reassured her. Again, with Alzheimers and dementia nothing is bullet proof so some days this would not work but for the most part it does!
I have inserted a photo of the board for anyone that might want to take inspiration from it!
2. The dementia clock. This is an amazing bit of kit and can be bought on Amazon for a really reasonable price. Alzheimers and dementia can affect people’s reading and how they tell the time so getting through the day can be hard for them. My Nan can clearly read the dementia clock, so it helps her know morning from afternoon. Also, you can set alarms on it – either for medication reminders or to wake them up. We did set an alarm to wake my nan up in the morning, as she seems to sleep forever, but she just waits for it to go back off – I can’t say I blame her really!
3. It’s a sign! We have put signs in lots of places in my Nan’s house (you can actually see in the photo above!). However, we have found that the trick is not to overwhelm her with too many. For example, we have one by each door reminding her to lock it and one above the kettle reminding her to drink – debatable if this one works though as she’s not a fan of making her own cup of tea. However, the locking door signs really work.
4. Pictures! We have started to print lots of photos of us and my nan as it reminds her that she does have people that love and care for her and it can also work as a prompt. For example, I printed off a photo of my Nan and I with a speech bubble saying ‘DRINK LOTS OF WATER’. She did take the mick out of this to start with but I think it might be helping – that leads me onto my next point.
5. H2O. My Nan used to forget to drink, or she would assume she had already drunk. However, she did become dehydrated which can lead to urine infections which can make people more confused. We decided to invest in a Hidrate water bottle which tracks how much the person drinks a day and flashes 10 times a day to remind them to do so. At first, my Nan kept saying how heavy it was, which to be honest it is, but as time went on, she became more used to it. I think she likes the idea of it being her bottle. However, saying this, some days it works and some days it doesn’t and she barely drinks anything – but it is an improvement on before and that’s the main thing.
These are really just a few things that we have learnt (and are still learning!) so nothing here is guaranteed to help but at times it has proved useful from my nan and us. I hope some people are able to draw ideas from this or even just find reassurance in what I have spoken about. I will be posting a lot more about dementia and Alzheimers as time goes on.
My dad and I are doing the Trek 26 for Alzheimers Society in June. I have attached my JustGiving page in case you wanted to donate.
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