By clicking
Talk to a Specialist, you agree to our
Privacy Policy. You also consent to receive calls and texts, which may be autodialed, from us and our customer communities. Your consent is not a condition to using our service. Please visit our
Terms of Use. for information about our privacy practices.
is going to be based to a large degree on what they CAN do.
My mom was 94 when she passed just this last January. She had developed some heart problems the previous July, so we didn't go out very often. Prior do that, we had taken her out for short car rides to do store errands (our daytime helper would do the shopping, my mom and I would stay in the car) but we had to get home pretty soon because she also needed to use the bathroom and one of her fetishes was to use the one only at home. Anyway, when we went out, she looks forward to fast food and I was able to get her healthy choices like fish items, chicken burgers and burritos, all her favorites.
Even though at home, I cooked all the time having her favorite dish is always ready for her. But as her teeth changed, food became more challenging. She didn't like the new stuff as much, too much of a change, so what we did was find ways to bring fast food into the home that she liked. Our helper picked up meals 2 or 3 times a week, softer foods, easier to chew, but still flavors she liked.
She like to watch westerns on TV but became confused by the commercials about how that fit into the story, so watching was limited. She used to like listening to the radio, but no more. What she did like, and we often did for 2 or more hours at a time (an eternity to a dementia patient) watch when I played my auto harp and she could sing along too old songs she remembered.
You have to keep being creative and inventive, but try to stick to the really old stuff but she has a better chance of recollecting. As mentioned above, old photos are a godsend that can take up quite a bit of your time getting her to remember old people in her life.