Issue with things like remote controls being thrown and broken weekly

[Daz134]

Hello

Im new to the forum and looking for some advice.

My mother has Alzheimers / Dementia and seems to have got worse over the past 4 months or so. She lives at home alone and has carers going in daily for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.

We are finding it extremely difficult with regards to her breaking things. She seems to smash things such as Mobile phone, Hover, Radio and Remote Controls. She physically breaks them until they are in pieces.

Over the past few months we have been having to buy new tv remote controls weekly. She is breaking the control in to three pieces. We have tried simplifying the controls where we have cut the un used buttons out of the control and even bought a zipper control which just has a few buttons, but she breaks them.

I dont live near and neither do my brothers, so its difficult thinking she has no TV on until we can get there days later to replace the remote controls.

She has recently started unplugging the TV or the HDMI lead from the back but most of the time she will break the controls even if the TV is working.

How can we possibly manage this

Thanks for any advice in advance

 

[kindred]

Hello

Im new to the forum and looking for some advice.

My mother has Alzheimers / Dementia and seems to have got worse over the past 4 months or so. She lives at home alone and has carers going in daily for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.

We are finding it extremely difficult with regards to her breaking things. She seems to smash things such as Mobile phone, Hover, Radio and Remote Controls. She physically breaks them until they are in pieces.

Over the past few months we have been having to buy new tv remote controls weekly. She is breaking the control in to three pieces. We have tried simplifying the controls where we have cut the un used buttons out of the control and even bought a zipper control which just has a few buttons, but she breaks them.

I dont live near and neither do my brothers, so its difficult thinking she has no TV on until we can get there days later to replace the remote controls.

She has recently started unplugging the TV or the HDMI lead from the back but most of the time she will break the controls even if the TV is working.

How can we possibly manage this

Thanks for any advice in advance

My husband was like this, he would break things and tie the electric cables into a bow. I had in the end to remove and put covers around the lot as it was to dangerous. I know this seems a deprivation but it ended up the only safe thing to do.
Warmest, kindred

 

[Daz134]

My husband was like this, he would break things and tie the electric cables into a bow. I had in the end to remove and put covers around the lot as it was to dangerous. I know this seems a deprivation but it ended up the only safe thing to do.
Warmest, kindred

Thanks for the reply.

The problem I have is she is on her own, the TV is the only for of communication she has for hours on end and throughout the night.

I just think that the days must seem long enough for her as it is as she doesn't have any concert of time. With out the TV this could send her further into depression.

Its a difficult situation

 

[Izzy]

Hi @Daz134 and welcome to the forum. It’s heartbreaking when you’re trying to find solutions to problems like this. I don’t have an answer but I did a little internet search and wondered if this kind of cover would be of any use. It’s silicone and seems to cover all of the buttons. I found it on Amazon -

Silicone Rubber Remote Control Dust-Proof Cover Waterproof TV Air Conditioning Remote Control Protective Cover Gear Storage Bag Size 2/F: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

Silicone Rubber Remote Control Dust-Proof Cover Waterproof TV Air Conditioning Remote Control Protective Cover Gear Storage Bag Size 2/F: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

smile.amazon.co.uk

Please ignore me if that wouldn’t be of any help! Just a thought!

 

[karaokePete]

Hello @Daz134, welcome to the forum.

I wonder if the Admiral Nurses operate in your mothers area. The nurses would have wide practical experience and may have come across a solution to this. You can check on their site by clicking the following link https://www.dementiauk.org/dementia-uk-helpline-extends-hours/

The other thing that strikes me is that the GP may be able to assist in calming your mother as it does seem like the cause may be a level of agitation following on from frustration.

I hope you do get a solution.

 

[Weasell]

Look on eBay. You can get remotes very cheaply.
buy quite a few ?
if you do it at the moment you will most likely get the seller telling their friends ‘ they are even stockpiling remote controls due to this virus’ !!
At work the TVs are in totally enclosed cabinets with Perspex fronts, but you are talking serious money for one of them.
Old fashioned mahogany tv cabinets sell for almost nothing second hand, could you buy one of those and get a handyman to put very high grade perspex across the front then screw the whole lot to the wall..?

 

[canary]

Looking at the list of things that your mum breaks they all seem to be "modern" gadgets. I wonder if the problem is that when she breaks them it is at a time when she no longer recognises what they are for. I know that mum was very suspicious of things that she did not recognise, or were "different" and she would go to great lengths to remove them - she once removed a smoke alarm that I had got installed because she could not remember what it was and the little light on it worried her.

 

[Weasell]

Looking at the list of things that your mum breaks they all seem to be "modern" gadgets. I wonder if the problem is that when she breaks them it is at a time when she no longer recognises what they are for. I know that mum was very suspicious of things that she did not recognise, or were "different" and she would go to great lengths to remove them - she once removed a smoke alarm that I had got installed because she could not remember what it was and the little light on it worried her.

Such a good point from Canary, my mother hates power lights. I use gaffer/duck tape or electrical tape to cover them all, WiFi router, camera, everything really.
Tip, If you cover the power light on a tv make sure you do not cover the remote control pick up, (the area that picks up the signal from the remote!)
I also make little boxes to cover power points and use duck tape to make the power plugs less accessible.

 

[Weasell]

At work when’s remote gets broken we just say ‘ oh well’ and we get out a new one.
( But please don’t tell Greta Thunberg ) !!!!!!

 

[Sirena]

I agree with Weasell, I would buy a lot of cheap remotes, find somewhere safe to hide them, and tell the carer where they can be found. I honestly don't think you will stop her doing this, so you just have to prepare as best you can.

Also a good point by Canary about the little lights on these devices. My mother used to switch off her boiler to 'put out the light' (and then of course she couldn't remember she'd done that, thought it was broken, and wanted an engineer called). It might help to cover any lights with masking/gaffer tape.... but of course she might she rip the tape off!

 

[Weasell]

Sirena has such a good point about the tape being taken off.
Mum hasn’t thought of that yet, but when she does I plan to make a dot stencil and spray paint the power lights so she can’t see them!

 

[Sirena]

Well thought out @Weasell ! You have to be one step ahead at all times...

 

[Weasell]

Another thought, depending on what technique she is using to destroy the remote.
could you run a strip of the hook Velcro along the back of the remote.
I do not mean normal Velcro, I mean the high grade Velcro sold in sewing shops and purchased to hang curtains from, in environments where people rip the curtains off the windows.
The Velcro would strengthen the remote if it is being bent over a knee.
The Velcro would make it almost impossible to change the batteries, but is the remote going to live that long anyway?

 

[MaNaAk]

Hi @Daz134 and welcome to the forum. It’s heartbreaking when you’re trying to find solutions to problems like this. I don’t have an answer but I did a little internet search and wondered if this kind of cover would be of any use. It’s silicone and seems to cover all of the buttons. I found it on Amazon -

Silicone Rubber Remote Control Dust-Proof Cover Waterproof TV Air Conditioning Remote Control Protective Cover Gear Storage Bag Size 2/F: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

Silicone Rubber Remote Control Dust-Proof Cover Waterproof TV Air Conditioning Remote Control Protective Cover Gear Storage Bag Size 2/F: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

smile.amazon.co.uk

Please ignore me if that wouldn’t be of any help! Just a thought!

View attachment 62106

Dad used to put the electric kettle on the stove and I had to replace three of them. Aside from getting carers in I would suggest getting a case for the remote controls as Izzy has suggested but I just want to let you know that when I replaced the kettle the third time Argos offered accidental damage cover even after I told them what happened!

MaNaAk