Helping your loved one remember. Any advice?

You could use a tray affixed to her chair that she has to stop and think how to remove before she gets up, and might even ask for help with.

The tray is an idea. I noticed that some dementia patients who can't sit up well, have a tray in front of them in their chair so they can sit up better. It might take a few minutes to push the tray away and that could give you more time to get to her. i'm not sure how old you are, but it sounds like your grandmother's care is taking all of your time, even during the night. Do you have some help?

I understand what you are going through and it's very frustrating. My loved one used to forget her walker a lot. Eventually, she fell and is now in a wheelchair. She can't walk alone any longer, but that's the only thing that prevents her from doing it.

I found that notes, reminders, begging, etc. did no good. She simply was not able to remember or even read a note that told her to not walk alone. It was a waste of breath and it made her feel like she was doing something wrong. She simply could not do better. It was her being uncooperative. She just wasn't able to remember things. I'm not sure what the answer is.

Even if her legs are strong, poor balance can cause a fall quite easily. I would witness my loved one walk around her walker and almost go over backwards due to poor balance. (She has dementia.)

The only thing I can think of is to watch her constantly and stand by her for support when she stops and tries to bend over.

Perhaps others here have some helpful tips. Perhaps there are devices that will keep her standing upright in the walker. There are also walkers that roll and have a seat on them, but that might not help her if she bent over near it.

This is quite a challenge. I wish you all the best.

Your grandma's at the point where she needs to be watched around the clock so she doesn't fall and injure herself. You've tried chair alarms and notes and other methods of reminding her that she needs help but nothing has worked. My suggestion would be to get hired caregivers in there to be with her around the clock. Either that or look into skilled nursing care.

Correction to post above. It was NOT her being uncooperative. She just could not remember what to do.

The skilled nursing homes we have looked at don't use bed alarms and they only do rounds. She would fall within a day or so of being there since she refuses to ask for assistance and would only get up within a few seconds of them leaving just so she wouldn't ask for help (we dealt with this in rehab and visited the skilled nursing facility there). I just was wondering if there was something out there that we are missing that would help with the needing assistance.

Oh and she is on around the clock care. We have caregivers that are sitting with her when we are not there. So that's not a concern we are just struggling with ways to help her be safe not really complaining about watching her.

Yea she's not being uncooperative either which is why I hate to scold her or make a huge big deal out of it. I get frustrated though because at night we sleep in the same room as her and she could just ask but instead just stands up to walk around forgetting she can't do that anymore. During the day again we are sitting right there never leaving and either she will wait until we walk out of the room for just a second to get her a glass of water or to load up the dishes (we take the video monitor with us) and within a second of us leaving she will be up and trying to walk around again. And like I said I get it's not on purpose, she just has to go to the bathroom or notices a piece of paper or something on the floor and feels the need to go get it forgetting that she is old. I was just hoping for a suggestion that might help us instead of waiting until she does do another fall and can't walk anymore:( I'm thinking it's just a matter of us being understanding when reminding her and understanding that the reminder is more for us to feel better about the situation and not so much for her as she won't really remember.

That tray is a really good idea. I'm going to have to try that. I know we have a sticker over her up and down button on her chair which makes her fuss about how to get it off when she sees it which seems to give us that extra minute or two to get to her before she takes off. I can't believe how now that she's feeling better, how fast she can manage to get out of the chair and move.

As for help, my mom and I have been taking turns. During the day we do have a caregiver that comes for a few hours in the morning (I'm usually at work at this point which is why they came since before this point my mom worked). Then in the afternoon she's with us in our main living room so if I'm home, my mom and I take turns making sure she goes to the bathroom, helping her then making sure she makes it back. (she gets confused as to where to go sometimes). So I definitely have help and my mom is home all the time although she's hoping that while the caregivers are here in the morning, she can return to working 15 hours a week at home now. (it's on a trial basis). There's a lot going on in my house right now. My grandma is there and my mom who is recovering from the removal of her right hand side upper jaw after dealing with cancer, is there too helping me care for grandma. Right now she cannot drive so I'm balancing working, caring for my grandma and driving both to their appointments but somehow we are making it work.