Cooking with Dementia - advice please

[sueorbell]

My mother lives on her own in an flat in the UK. She cooks simple things for herself using a gas cooker that has push button ignition. I am worried that she might forget to light the gas. Does anyone with more experience of caring for folks with dementia have any advice? Should I switch to a gas cooker with automatic mains ignition? Is there a gas detector I can buy, like a smoke detector? Should I switch to an electric cooker? Is a change of cooker likely to confuse her further? Any advice would be welcome. Thank you.

 

[FifiMo]

I think you may find that when your mum is at the stage where she is forgetting how to work the cooker, that she will also perhaps be forgetting that she has something cooking on the cooker also. If this is the case then it would probably be time to have the cooker isolated so that it can only be used when someone else is present.

You do get gas detectors as well as smoke alarms, my only thought about them is that they can be so loud that they cause people to "freeze" then get confused about what they should do etc. There was a post just recently to a company that sold disability aides that had gas detectors for sale, but I can't seem to find it - I don't want to post more because TP has rules about advertising etc within the Forum. Maybe the moderators will help.

The whole situation is not easy, we have had a few occasions with my mother where she has left the cooker on unlit (and she is a chain smoker) and where she cremated a chicken because she'd forgotten how to use the oven and put the grill on instead. Nowadays, although the cooker is still there and connected, she tends to rely on the microwave oven and a selection of ready meals.

Kind regards

Fiona

 

[AdeleA]

Although CO2 poisoning is obviously a major risk, it's not the only one. There is also the risk of fire - eg by lighting the flame under a pan and then forgetting about it, or putting a tea towel or somethign over the hot ring. These risks are not reduced by switching to electric, so I agree that the best solution is to install an isolation switch so that the coooker can only be used when someone is there.

Personally, I would do this sooner rather than later. I was at the stage of thinking about doing something when mum's condition deteriorated quite suddenly and she very nearly had a few serious accidents. In retrospect I think it's better to reduce all dangers as much as you can before something happens.

I don't know if your mum has a gas fire but I would think about an alternative for that if she does.

 

[Sandy]

Hi sueorbell,

Welcome to Talking Point (TP).

Has your mother had any kind of Community Care assessment done by Social Services (SS):

http//www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/418

If not, that might be a good place to start, possibly with an occupational therapist involved to look at how your mum is coping with the tasks involved in making meals, having a bath/shower, etc.

Does your mum have any other family nearby or any carers currently coming into her home to assist her?

Take care,

 

[sueorbell]

Cooking with Dementia - thank you for replies

Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies. Our situation with Mum is difficult. She has two daughters, I live in California, my sister lives in France. Mum has some family within a 30 mile radius but has chosen to not have much contact with them over the years. She focusses on my sister and I. We have a private company providing two hour care visits, six days a week. My sister visits Mum 5/6 times a year for 2/3 days. I visit twice a year for 8 days.

SS is involved, however they seem to be OK with the recent increase to 6 times a week of care giver visits.

Our major issue is Mum's loneliness, and safety issues like the cooker.

I just joined this site and can already see it will be a helpful resource. Thank you everyone. Sue

 

[DMWalker]

I had a big problem with my husband leaving the gas on when I worked. I contacted Social Services and they had a Gas/CO2 detector installed for us.

It is linked to a central operations unit and they have my mobile phone number. They also supplied smoke alarms and a pendant he can wear round his neck although as yet he doesn't need one.

This is a fantastic set up, we have a small unit connected to our phone line, should he ever feel unsafe about anything and I am not there he can press the button or pendant and they will speak to him and ring me.

Hope there is something like this where you live.

Love Dee

 

[Resigned]

This is a problem. After my mother set fire to her cooker a couple of times, we had it turned off so that she couldn't work it on her own. We realised that although the smoke alarm went off as it should have, she simply shut the kitchen door so that it eventually stopped. She was quite unaware of the smoke-filled room, even though the whole house smelt of burning food.

Before my mother had a live-in carer, we were so worried about this but were able to feel a easier in our minds when we'd switched the cooker off. The funny thing was that, after the later episode, she didn't notice that the cooker wasn't working. I don't think she tried to cook again, on the cooker or in the microwave.

She could easily have burned herself badly or even burned the house down so it was the best (or only) thing to be done.

R

 

[ella24]

Hiya

we switched my gran's 'cooking' (which was questionable - some meats were raw/out of date) to a delivery of ready meals from Wiltshire farm foods http://www.wiltshirefarmfoods.com/cooking.asp - they sell a special heater (servtherm) , but most of the meals can be microwaved, and they have a great choice. (and service was fantastic too - the drivers are brilliant) - gran's carers were tasked with heating micro meals if gran didnt.... Would this be worth considering?

e

 

[wiggy]

We had my mums oven and hob disconnected to save accidents. There is a microwave but mum is unable to use it, but the carers use it for microwave meals. In our area we have lifeline and connected to that you can other assisted technologies linked to it, i belive that includes smoke detectors. Perhaps it might be a idea to see if your mums local council operate such a scheme.