Happy Mondays additional: people who care

[lizzie_and_ari]

I meant to tell you this story I heard today:

My mum co-runs (at executive rather than day-to-day level) a care home, most of the residents of which have dementia.

One lady was becoming to be a particular problem - violent and abusive, constantly very upset.

The manager knew that she used to be a postmistress.

So they set her up a small desk. They hung up a calendar behind it and gave her an ink stamp, a pen and a writing book.

She now sits calmly all day, stamping things, scribbling on bits of paper, tearing them out and handing them to passers by. She couldn't be happier.

It's wonderful that there are still people who take time and thought like this, particularly given some of the other stories you hear.

Should I ever find myself in that situation, I wonder what I would want to be doing. I hope someone will take the effort to find out.

Lizzie x

Comments

[andrewducker]

Aww - that's lovely. I'm glad they found the thing that made her happy.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

That's really lovely. =)

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

I think this is quite common in nursing homes. My gran had constantly gone on about the babies she'd lost(She had no recollection of my two aunts or my dad being born but could remember the two babies she'd had that were still born). She was distressed and tearful a lot of the time and accusing people of stealing her babies because they didn't move. The nursing home gave her a doll and she used to sit and cradle it for hours, including changing nappies. Simple solution but one that worked with dementia.