My neighbour is at her wits end.------

[brenda]

Her mother is in a care home. I visit another resident in the care home and have seen the situatiion she is concerned about first hand.
Her Mother is 91 years of age , quite frail and not able to move unaided, she also has serious dementia.
The problem is that about 3-30pm in the afternoon the old lady begins to vocalise at volume , non stop. This constant noise which is very loud , drowns out the Tv and winds up other residents and their visitors.
The staff from time to time speak to her, and for a moment she is quiet.Other residents sitting by her , threaten to hit her ,and the male residents shout at her and swear at her.
The staff sometimes take her away to her room where she sits on the bed and sobs.Or they move her to another part of the room away from the group and again she sobs.
My neighbour thinks the vocalisation is due to boredom and frustration, and she may well be right.
So my question on her behalf( my neighbour) is this------Is there anything that anyone can think of which might occupy this old lady and keep her focussed for a short while and hopefully silent?
She has good manipulative skills and flexible fingers eg can hold a cup and saucer, and pick up small objects, her vision is also good.
Any ideas would be very welcome.Thank you in advance Brenda

[brenda]

Thank you everyone for your time , your interest and your ideas.My neighbour is coming round now to read the lot , have a glass of wine , read again tomorrow and then plan her strategy.so goodnight everyone .Brenda.

[welshlibranr]

this poor lady needs stimulation!.....the care home need to find out what will stimulate her!.......they are not caring for her well!......most dementia patients can indeed be stimulated, whether it be by looking at photos, listening to favourite music and singing along (often works really well!) Doing simple jigsaws, sewing or knitting, there are so many possibilities!........the care home staff just need to put in the time to find out what works for this lady!.....they should never be leaving her alone to sob!...........disgraceful!

[brenda]

ladybirder --am really grovelling now-- am going to need an extra glass for you !!!!!

[brenda]

welsh --many thanks for you input .My neighbour is coming over to read all as I said --so thanks again.

[welshlibranr]

brenda, hope your friend can get it sorted out!........so sad!.......there must be something that will help her mum, tell her to try to get some music from her youth, and see if she responds, I used to know a dementia patient, she hardly spoke, and cried often, if we played songs from the war years, she would sing along, and was very happy and contented!.....she loved Vera Lynne!............

[brenda]

Final update from me for my neighbour.She had a meeting with the manager of the home yesterday which went well. the home is going to buy some small items to be used as distraction items for use when the activity lady is not there say at weekends and so on.So good so far, for her mother and others.
CPN is meeting with my neighbour tomorrow .
She is making for Mother a memory photograph book,and has got her some music tapes to play onher player in her room.
The home has repositioned Mother's chair so that she can see the Tv (amazing!)and all would seem to be moving in a positive way .
My neighbour has read all of your answers and thanks you all for your input . She will take much of what you have said on board, so it is thank you from me and thank you from her (Alice).

[boxtops]

Thank you for the update, Brenda - good news that they home are taking these suggestions on board.

AB is so good for support at times like this!

[brenda]

boxtops -you are so right-- a tremendous site when genuine help is needed .