Keeping mum safe

[Roxbyterrace]

Mum has vascular dementia. Mum’s back garden has a separate small area at the back which leads down to a shed via some very steep steps. We emptied the shed and bought her a new one so that she would not need to go near the steps. We put up a new fence with a padlocked gate. She is determined to get down there and will try anything which means breaking or smashing the gate. Do we let her have her ‘basic human rights’ and thus allow her access to dangerously steep steps or make further attempts to close the area off. She has a lovely bungalow with front and rear gardens and a new shed. We don’t expect to be able to reason with her, her dementia is such that it’s gone past that but what to do?

 

[Louise7]

Hello @Roxbyterrace It's a difficult situation as the steps are a risk for your mum. Can she still see the old, empty shed despite the new fence? If so it may be acting as a visual 'trigger' for her, making her think that she still has things in it, so if it isn't actually needed any more perhaps taking it down/removing it would help?

 

[Roxbyterrace]

I didn’t think of ‘triggers’ to be honest. She can’t see it as we put a 5 foot fence up but she knows it’s there. We might just get it moved up to the main garden and just take the gate out and fence across the gap. When she moves out we can open it up again. It’s like she’s hell bent. Thank you.