"Shadowing” is when a person with dementia imitates and follows the caregiver, or constantly talks, asks questions, and interrupts. Like sundowning, this behavior often occurs late in the day and can be irritating for caregivers. Comfort the person with verbal and physical reassurance. Distraction or redirection might also help. Giving your loved one a job such as folding laundry might help to make her feel needed and useful."
I'm currently caring for my 99-yr old aunt with mod/adv dementia. She's not mobile but talks a lot and inappropriately. I seat her at the kitchen table and ask her to help me by folding kitchen towels and napkins, sort plastic utensils, sort colored poker chips (which she will often arrange in a pattern) and sort and pair multi-colored socks. Besides giving her a sense of purpose we have found she sleeps through the night now without sleep aids because she has burned some mental energy. While here I came upon an very large box of literally every single greeting card she ever received, so I put a stack in front of her and asked her to sort them (so there is no "wrong" way for her to sort, whatever she comes up with is fine). She saw the cards were addressed to her from people in her long-term memory so it kept her quite occupied. I'll keep giving those to her on following days (since she mostly doesn't remember doing the task) until she seems to tire of it.
I wish you much peace and patience as you move through ALZ with your LO.
"Shadowing” is when a person with dementia imitates and follows the caregiver, or constantly talks, asks questions, and interrupts. Like sundowning, this behavior often occurs late in the day and can be irritating for caregivers. Comfort the person with verbal and physical reassurance. Distraction or redirection might also help. Giving your loved one a job such as folding laundry might help to make her feel needed and useful."
I'm currently caring for my 99-yr old aunt with mod/adv dementia. She's not mobile but talks a lot and inappropriately. I seat her at the kitchen table and ask her to help me by folding kitchen towels and napkins, sort plastic utensils, sort colored poker chips (which she will often arrange in a pattern) and sort and pair multi-colored socks. Besides giving her a sense of purpose we have found she sleeps through the night now without sleep aids because she has burned some mental energy. While here I came upon an very large box of literally every single greeting card she ever received, so I put a stack in front of her and asked her to sort them (so there is no "wrong" way for her to sort, whatever she comes up with is fine). She saw the cards were addressed to her from people in her long-term memory so it kept her quite occupied. I'll keep giving those to her on following days (since she mostly doesn't remember doing the task) until she seems to tire of it.
I wish you much peace and patience as you move through ALZ with your LO.
Source:
https://www.caregiver.org/resource/caregivers-guide-understanding-dementia-behaviors/