Phone calls in the night

[VET]

My Mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia a few months ago. She lives on her own and despite having 2 clocks that state the time very clearly, she has taken to ringing me in the middle of the night for various reasons , it’s never an emergency.
Any advice on ways to avoid this would be much appreciated.

 

[nellbelles]

Hello @VET and welcome to DTP
A difficult one as I presume you want her to be able to contact you in an emergency?

 

[Pete1]

Hi @VET, the clocks may not make sense to your Mum. I am guessing she is calling you for reassurance as she is probably frightened and confused (perhaps after waking up). It wasn't something that I managed to solve and would often get called in the early hours, and sometimes had to go round to comfort/reassure Mum. I did get the Helpline installed which she did call a few times when she was confused - but generally they would call me anyway. I also had dementia friendly clocks but that didn't really make much difference really.

A few general questions....Is she generally more confused late afternoon and early evening recently? Does she sleep during the day? Does she have carers supporting her?

 

[canary]

It sounds like she is losing the understanding of the difference between day and night.
It always amazed me how mum could not tell that blazing sunshine and people around meant it was daytime, and pitch black and quiet with no-one around meant it was night, but she didnt.

It may be that she is sundowning and more confused at night and this why she is phoning.