Posting signs in a care home

[UnderTheSea]

Hello,

I have recently been in residential care setting for adults with dementia. One of the residents has made a habit of going into other peoples' refrigerators and stealing drinks. What sort of sign could we put on the fridge to discourage the person from this habit?

The person doesn't read very well, so I was thinking some kind of symbol. What else could we do? It would have to be something that discourages the person from entering the fridge, but doesn't discourage others.

I hope this makes sense. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[juniepoonie]

that's a difficult one! good luck juniepoonie

 

[jenniferpa]

Hello,

I have recently been in residential care setting for adults with dementia. One of the residents has made a habit of going into other peoples' refrigerators and stealing drinks. What sort of sign could we put on the fridge to discourage the person from this habit?

The person doesn't read very well, so I was thinking some kind of symbol. What else could we do? It would have to be something that discourages the person from entering the fridge, but doesn't discourage others.

I hope this makes sense. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Truthfully, if you are dealing with someone with dementia, no sign will work. I'm sorry to sound dismissive (?) but when people can't (or won't) read signs that are there to protect them, such as "poison" or "don't turn this off" then you are just whistling in the wind.

I think what you need to do is to make this fridge inaccessible.

 

[Katrine]

I agree. Your resident is only interested in obtaining a drink. S/he doesn't think it is stealing and probably has no concept of things belonging to other people any more. CH staff call this 'magpie' behaviour. It is common for residents to take clothes, ornaments, jewellery, or anything else that takes their fancy. Many simply have no concept of personal boundaries. This is where they live, so everything in it belongs to them, is the logical presumption (if any logic actually applies).

As well as finding a way to block access to other people's fridges, perhaps this resident would benefit from some nice drinks or treats of their own? What provision has been made for this? Better to attract him/her to a legitimate source of treats than to attempt to discourage him/her (which simply will not work ).

 

[Saffie]

I'm just amazed that people have their own individual fridge in a home!
Perhaps this lady is too.
In my husband's nursing home there is only one fridge in each lounge.

 

[Jayp]

Hi I used to work in care setting with People with Learning Disabilities and had we had lots of use of alternative signing. You could try a Photo of each person on their own fridge. Photo are easy to do know and can be laminated. If this doesn't work don't give up and try other ways. There are really good web sites for People with Learning Disabilities around communication and that may give you some ideas of alternative signing. Also Speech and Language Therapist often can offer some ideas. Good Luck dont give up if one thing fails try try again and you will find something that works.