my grandma has dementia:(

i talked to the OT today.
so basically,i told her a few things.

I should probably describe my circumstances. I am 20 this year and my grandma has vascular dementia. My family lives with them so it has been affecting me quite alot. Its difficult to carry on with life normally especially when you see that the whole family is affected because of this one person. My mum and younger bro doesnt help out very often because its just not in them to do this kind of things. So its boils down to me, dad and grandpa. Grandma is exceptionally attached to grandpa so he bears he brunt of the disease.

1.the insomnia problem

So what denise, the ot said, was to keep her active in the day. This is so she wont sleep in the day and as a result, will be able to sleep at night. She suggested that if we can't wake her up by shaking her,then try to get her to stand up and walk around the house. If she has the problem of sitting down in the middle of nowhere,then try to put stools around the house. Alternatively, keep your hand on her bumbum to signify to her that she can't sit there. Can also hold her pants.

2.how yeye's negative attitude might hv an impact on her

Ok, this is something I observed. So what happens is that she will piss yeye off,yeye will get pissed off(duh) and yeye will show some negative body languages to her which will in return,aggravate her more and the cycle continues. Denise said that what I observed could have been real. Which brings us to the point that yeye probably needs time off.So when he gets angry,she suggest that he should take like 5/10min breaks away from nainai. Because it will do the both of them good.

3.why she pinches yeye

Ah ha. Tricky issue. So there can be a few reasons why she does this. Denise thinks that it might be a form of disciplinary action for him being away from her(in her context) It could also be like the vicious cycle that happened that made her unhappy hence the pinching. How to solve it?good question..

4.what we can do with her

According to Denise again, she responds better to things with bigger movements, things that will actually wear her out physically. This might be a good thing because she will become tired so that she can sleep at night. She suggested that we play balloons with her, she played bowling with her today.

5.what we can do to help yeye

When nainai calls him, we can actually try to distract her by talking to her.Most of the time,when she calls,it means that her needs are not being met. So we can prompt her by asking her questions like if she is hungry and such. She probably calls like that because her vocab is becoming smaller.

6.why she keeps calling him

The answer above probably fits this question too. And it might also be due to the fact that she feels yeye not paying as much attention to her as he used too.

I remember I once read that when a person with dementia does something nasty, its not the person doing it, its the disease. I really hope that someone who feels the same way as I do finds my post useful. Its actually a post for me to consolidate my thoughts but if it helps others, why not?

I love my grandma, i really do. Just that dementia is quite trying on family members.