I was wondering if anyone else caring for a PWD has experienced anything of, or similar to, the following.
Over the past four or five months, mum, 88 yo, mild/moderate dementia, has developed a habit of banging her feet on the floor when sitting down. She puts her feet together, raises them (as in the chair exercise) then bangs them down on the floor, in quick succession, four times; then there's a gap of maybe ten or fifteen seconds and she repeats. Usually it goes on for around half an hour/45 minutes (maybe two or three times a night) but it can go on for several hours in one 'session'.
At first she'd stop if I told her to stop. Then that stopped working and she often says now that she doesn't know she's doing it. We have a table that slides over her knees at mealtimes and it's possible that she couldn't see it happening but now, with the table removed, the banging continues.
I've thought about external factors that might be a cause - is she displaying signs of anxiety, concern and so forth. Is she worried about something? Is it too noisy or too quiet? Is there pain or discomfort of some description? But there's nothing I can identify as a common factor when this happens. I've tried distracting her when it starts - with some success at the beginning but less so now.
She is limited in her mobility & mobilises with a walking frame. I'm trying to organise things so that she could go outside and walk up and down the footpath - when she's walking she does so with some strength - but it's a slow process.
From my research here and over the internet I can't see that it's a usual dementia behaviour so I was wondering if maybe others had a view on the cause, suggestions, or solutions, if not the dementia. I had a dementia team member here but that was of little help & I've a telephone consult with her GP in about ten days time. In the meantime, any suggestions?
Over the past four or five months, mum, 88 yo, mild/moderate dementia, has developed a habit of banging her feet on the floor when sitting down. She puts her feet together, raises them (as in the chair exercise) then bangs them down on the floor, in quick succession, four times; then there's a gap of maybe ten or fifteen seconds and she repeats. Usually it goes on for around half an hour/45 minutes (maybe two or three times a night) but it can go on for several hours in one 'session'.
At first she'd stop if I told her to stop. Then that stopped working and she often says now that she doesn't know she's doing it. We have a table that slides over her knees at mealtimes and it's possible that she couldn't see it happening but now, with the table removed, the banging continues.
I've thought about external factors that might be a cause - is she displaying signs of anxiety, concern and so forth. Is she worried about something? Is it too noisy or too quiet? Is there pain or discomfort of some description? But there's nothing I can identify as a common factor when this happens. I've tried distracting her when it starts - with some success at the beginning but less so now.
She is limited in her mobility & mobilises with a walking frame. I'm trying to organise things so that she could go outside and walk up and down the footpath - when she's walking she does so with some strength - but it's a slow process.
From my research here and over the internet I can't see that it's a usual dementia behaviour so I was wondering if maybe others had a view on the cause, suggestions, or solutions, if not the dementia. I had a dementia team member here but that was of little help & I've a telephone consult with her GP in about ten days time. In the meantime, any suggestions?
