Do memory aids help?

[Simwil33]

I am wondering if having a memory aid does actually help?
I'm talking about the ones that record a message and then play back at a set time?
If any one who has used these can advise me on how useful they are this could help me out a lot.
Thank you.

 

[1954]

Hi and welcome to TP

The only memory aid I use for MIL is wipe board which I have the month and year, then the day and date then I put just the main things she is doing that week. It seems to help her, but I am sorry I have not used the one that you mentioned. I am sure others will come along soon with some experience

 

[pippop1]

We haven't found anything that helps. Things get moved all the time so are never in the right place to be looked at and the information is not retained anyway.

We tried calling to say "take your medication now" (3 times a day) for a week but that didn't work either. When we checked it was still mostly in the dosset box. It was then that MIL began having to have carers.

 

[Nick99]

Tried all sorts, log book, post it notes, calendars, phone calls, notice board but nothing works. I suppose it depends on how far gone they are?

 

[artyfarty]

Like 1954, we use a wipe board which I think helps when my mum remembers to look at it. We also had a speaker which you could record a message on. This was then activated by a proximity sensor. It was by the front door as I was worried about bogus callers - played a message to remind her not to let strangers in. Unfortunately mum was having none of it - it disappeared within 24 hours and I only found it about a month later at the back of the meter cupboard.

We have had success with the dosette box though. You can set several alarms a day and the alarm only switches off when the box is picked up and the pills tipped out. Took mum a couple of weeks to get used to it and she is using it no problem at the moment.

 

[Nick99]

Forgot to say FIL also has two clocks that tell the time, date, date and whether it is morning or afternoon. He forgets to look at them and they may as well not be there. Even when he phones to say he needs some hearing aid batteries and we tell him where to look he comes back to the phone to ask what is he looking for!!

 

[Helen33]

I used cards for Alan to follow simple instructions. He was able to do this for quite a while and then the ability disappeared. Alan had a mobile phone and then he forgot what to do and so I wrote the procedure of making a call on the card. He was able to do that for a while.

Love

 

[Mamsgirl]

Mum was quite resistant to any sort of memory aid but a couple of months ago I put a white board up on the pantry door and she finds it useful. The large calendar I made with the day printed in every cell and important events and birthdays pre-entered however, is completely invisible . I'm her main memory aid it turns out Good luck, Toni x

 

[Witzend]

We haven't found anything that helps. Things get moved all the time so are never in the right place to be looked at and the information is not retained anyway.

We tried calling to say "take your medication now" (3 times a day) for a week but that didn't work either. When we checked it was still mostly in the dosset box. It was then that MIL began having to have carers.

Same here with meds. Problem being, I think, that by the time short term memory is very bad, someone will forget what you have said the moment they have put the phone down. That was our experience, anyway.