My Mum has mild-ish Vascular Dementia. Her short term memory is very unreliable but her thinking ability is pretty good. She also has a degree of heart failure so tires quickly. My sister and I take turns being with her. We do make sure that we go somewhere with her virtually every day (for an hour or two -usually longer) which she enjoys and there are also a number of visitors.
But when there is nothing much happening she often gets upset because she doesn't know what to do with herself. She has been a very active person.
She does like some TV programmes and will spend some time reading the Guardian.
But doesn't really bother with books.
She will help for a while with cooking - but it is not always easy to find things for her to do - she is happy to peel potatoes etc.
She is reluctant to phone friends as runs out of conversation quite quickly.
So I am looking for ideas for things we could do with her...and for things she might do on her own as there are times when my sister or I want our heads to ourselves for a while.
But when there is nothing much happening she often gets upset because she doesn't know what to do with herself. She has been a very active person.
She does like some TV programmes and will spend some time reading the Guardian.
But doesn't really bother with books.
She will help for a while with cooking - but it is not always easy to find things for her to do - she is happy to peel potatoes etc.
She is reluctant to phone friends as runs out of conversation quite quickly.
So I am looking for ideas for things we could do with her...and for things she might do on her own as there are times when my sister or I want our heads to ourselves for a while.