Confusion over times of the day - what to do?!

[LeonieF]

Hi there,

I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for me! My Dad lives alone at the moment and is recently retired after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in August. He seems to be deteriorating quite quickly and he is having real troubles working out the time of the day. He has rung me at 4 in the morning, thinking it is the afternoon or taken a nap in the afternoon and shouted at me when I rung him in the evening to say hello because he thinks it is the early hours of the morning! I try to explain to him the real time of day but he can't seem to accept it and gets quite upset.

I am especially worried how this will affect his eating routine or taking his pills. I was thinking of buying the special clocks that say 'It is Now Monday Afternoon' but I was wondering if anyone has bought one and whether they help at all or are just a waste of money.

Any thoughts?!

Thank you!

 

[nmintueo]

I was thinking of buying the special clocks that say 'It is Now Monday Afternoon' but I was wondering if anyone has bought one and whether they help at all or are just a waste of money.

While I'm generally keen on technical aids in principle, in this case I'm a clock skeptic.

I think a simple clock is something that could help someone who does refer to the clock but has difficulty reading ordinary clocks or extracting just the key bit of information, or someone who can read a clock OK but the one they have lacks some bit of information (like what day it is).

But now, it seems he can't pick up on cues such as whether it's daylight or dark, and won't accept what you tell him. I'd be quite surprised if a clock would help at all in that situation.

Maybe try it if you can get it on a 30-day money-back basis. Or rig up a cheaper one yourself:
Creating a Day Clock using a Digital Photo Frame
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?56586

You might get some mileage out of measures such as blackout blinds or enhanced lighting or things that keep him active during the day, but if he's on his own there's nobody there to keep that all straight.

Possibly you could keep your phone where it won't wake you up, but then you have to balance that against the risk that he might have a genuine need to call you in the middle of the night.

As to meals and medication: you might get try a timed-alarm pill dispenser, which helps in some cases, or phone him at a regular time to get him to take his pills, if there's a time when you can be reasonably confident he'll be awake and receptive. Otherwise it may be that he really needs daily carer visits.

 

[loveahug]

It might be worth trying one of these?

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0wok/

 

[jerocl]

Hi there,

I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for me! My Dad lives alone at the moment and is recently retired after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in August. He seems to be deteriorating quite quickly and he is having real troubles working out the time of the day. He has rung me at 4 in the morning, thinking it is the afternoon or taken a nap in the afternoon and shouted at me when I rung him in the evening to say hello because he thinks it is the early hours of the morning! I try to explain to him the real time of day but he can't seem to accept it and gets quite upset.

I am especially worried how this will affect his eating routine or taking his pills. I was thinking of buying the special clocks that say 'It is Now Monday Afternoon' but I was wondering if anyone has bought one and whether they help at all or are just a waste of money.

Any thoughts?!

Thank you!

Hi leonie, your dad sounds exactly the same as my husband and believe me I have tried everything to get him to understand that day is for waking and night is for sleeping but am really struggling. I don't want to dishearten you but other than you or someone else giving the tablets at the correct time there is no magic way. I'm trying to carry on working so not home during the day unless able to work from home on occasions so I'm finding it a bit of a nightmare too. If you hear or are told of any good way of dispensing tablets pleas let me know. J

 

[ktnic]

My mum has similar problems even though she has 3 carer visits a day!
I've tried:

]big clocks in every room, tried to find ones which said am/pm in big letters - couldn't.
visual daily timetable ( ex teacher!!!) she said it was great but after 2 months I found out she was not completing it, carers did it, they didn't leave it with her in the afternoon and she 'forgot' to do it!
" if it's dark it's night time - DON'T phone me! '" useless when the clocks go back!
" if the curtains are drawn it's night time don't get up until the carers come" - takes herself to bed whenever!

Had to take her tablets off her over 18months ago and they are now administered by carers.

She still phones at obscure times, sometimes for no reason but sometimes to say she has fallen, I go up, sometimes she has sometimes not, once I found her sat on the loo when I asked her how she got there she said " with God's will" I said well next time ask him to make sure you don't phone me in the middle of the night unless its an emergency!

I can't sleep because I'm stressed out that she'll phone again. My brothers who live 1hr away just say ' turn your phone off'. Good luck.

Hi leonie, your dad sounds exactly the same as my husband and believe me I have tried everything to get him to understand that day is for waking and night is for sleeping but am really struggling. I don't want to dishearten you but other than you or someone else giving the tablets at the correct time there is no magic way. I'm trying to carry on working so not home during the day unless able to work from home on occasions so I'm finding it a bit of a nightmare too. If you hear or are told of any good way of dispensing tablets pleas let me know. J

 

[MReader]

My husband is he same - time means nothing to him but he is constantly asking what time it is. I bought a 'Now it is Monday afternoon' digital clck and it seems to work very well for him - he seems less agitated as he now has some sort of sense of the day.
I think they are excellent - not cheap though, but VAT free for dementia sufferers.

 

[Nick99]

We frequently get calls asking what day is it, what date, what time. He has two big clocks that give all this information but he forgets he has the. When we say look at your clock it goes silent for about a minute while he looks for it - its on the wall directly in front of him. Anyway these are one of the less annoying calls like the calls asking who brings me my meals, who does my shopping. These are easily answered. The ones we dread are I've lost my hearing aid, my TV won't work, I want some money, my toilet won't work, the kitchen is flooded!

 

[Noorza]

The OT assessed Mum for one and it's been a Godsend, it's'really working for her at the moment.