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Yesterday my cousin (78, memory impairment) and her husband invited us over for a Super Bowl gathering. She insisted on making wings because she still believes she can cook. Her husband (an alcoholic) didn't oversee the food prep. She made wings from a frozen bag. The bag had clear and simple instructions on it and yet she didn't prepare them properly.

All this to say that your Dad won't be able to keep an accurate journal because people with dementia lose their orientation to time and space.

Is someone managing your Dad's care? If not, it is time. He might not like it but the alternative isn't good. I think it will help you to educate yourself about dementia. There are lots of good books and videos. I learned a lot from Teepa Snow on YouTube.
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Reply to Geaton777
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When you hear about a diary with dementia, I think you have it backwards. The caregiver keeps a diary of activities to report to the doctor about behaviors
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Reply to MACinCT
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You can get him a diary or blank book or anything that he might like. But it will not enable him to keep track of what he needs to do or has already done in a day, given that has dementia.

Examples from my dad:
He had a pill box that had day of the week and morning, afternoon, evening on the compartments. But he could no longer keep track of what day it was nor what time of day. Without someone to dole out the pills, he would take them randomly from different compartments, too many or not enough. He mostly lost track of day vs night also.
At one stage, he wrote lots of notes on scraps of paper and left them all over the house, in drawers, his pockets — everywhere. They might say “ask about electricity bill” or “look up [word] in the dictionary” or often they were odd phrases that I’m guessing he might have heard or remembered from movies or TV or YouTube. I don’t think it helped him remember to do anything, despite his appearing to try.

good luck!
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Reply to Suzy23
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A diary is not going to help an elder with dementia remember what they did during the day. You're better off with a dry erase whiteboard on the wall and even that will not work after awhile. Only human reminders help a person remember what to do or not do.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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Amazon or Hobby Lobby. I also agree that he should not be living alone.
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Reply to JustAnon
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You can pick up journals anywhere.
Is your dad able to write and understand what he is writing?
Maybe get the journal for him to carry and if he writes in it great. But as far as keeping track of what he has done or should do a large whiteboard might help.
You could list time of day and the task he should do and he can check it off when it has been done.
Is he living alone? (going to get on my soapbox here...I am of the belief that a person with dementia should not be living alone for many reasons...)
but if he is living alone cameras might help you keep track of what he has done and when he leaves the house.
If he is not alone then whoever is living with him can help him with his journal and or calendar.
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Reply to Grandma1954
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