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My 83yr old father suffers from Parkinson's and dementia with Lewy bodies. He currently lives with my mother who has her own very serious medical conditions. He is often awake at night and wonders off around the house. So we adapted the spare room for him with nice furniture and a hospital style bed (rails at the side so he can't get out and wonder) for his own safety. He is now refusing to sleep in the new room because he hates the bed. This means my mum is hardly getting any sleep and this is making her very distressed and physically ill. I can't help as I don't live with them and have a full time job and studies. How can we convince him to move and accept the new room? Please help.

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I am so sorry for your parents' illnesses.

I am afraid I agree with blannie. It is not safe for your parents to spend nights alone. They must either have a in-home help through the night, or one or both of them need a care center. If they can afford it, bring in night supervision. If Dad wanders around all night, that is OK if someone is there to keep him inside and safe. Or someone can sit with him in his new room, perhaps reading to him or looking at photo albums, etc. Mother needs her rest and must be kept undisturbed.

My mother and my husband and my son each had hospital beds at home. In all cases they had half-rails that they could use to help pull themselves up. Neither prevented them from getting out of bed. That isn't really the function of an at-home hospital bed.
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Sounds like it's time for one or both parents to be in a facility (apart from each other) so they can both be cared for with professionals to watch over them. Are your parents alone by themselves at night now? That doesn't seem safe or healthy from what you've written. It sounds like your dad doesn't have the cognitive ability to make good decisions and your mom doesn't have the physical capabilities to take care of herself in the case of an emergency. Their current situation sounds like a crisis waiting to happen.
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Sue, I read some of your other postings and being that your Dad has dementia and with the stage that he has, I doubt anyone would be able to convince him to sleep in his own room instead of with his wife. And with your Mum having had cancer on and off for so many years, her energy level is probably very low and sleep is very important. I know I wouldn't be able to sleep is someone was wandering around the house.

Oh, hospital beds with rails pulled up are either not allowed or not recommended here in the States for the elderly with dementia... the elderly will try to crawl out of the bed and get their legs entangled in the rails which could result in serious injury.
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