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Daughter mixed medicine in food.


Client has Alzheimer's and 64.



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Gently tell her that some of her medicine cannot be swallowed so her daughter mixed it into the good, and it sure does TASTE like poison, but it isn't. Tell her her daughter loves her very much. Express interest in something personal around her, a picture of album, ask her all about it to remove her mind from the poison thing. She will not be easily swayed, and if that is the case it is OK. Just try different things "Oh, I know, I ate that for lunch and I thought they were poisoning me, too; doesn't it taste awful", and on you go. This will not be the first or the last unfathomable thing you hear for certain, right? Just try different things. And some days NONE of them will work.
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Ask the patient to tell you about it. Talk to her about the events she perceived, using prompts such as the medicine which she saw (show her the bottle/packet/label, make sure you're discussing the same thing, for example). Lead her as far as possible back to the real events, with the aim of reassuring her about what her daughter was doing and why. If the daughter is still there and protesting, reassure the daughter that "we" (meaning you, her and her mother) will soon all understand one another again if her mother is allowed to say what she's worried about first.

It would also be wise to check whether the daughter was mixing the medicine into the mother's food with or without the mother's knowledge and agreement. To do it to make the medicine easier to swallow, and having first explained that, is one thing. To do it if the mother has already refused the medicine is begging for trouble, QED, as well as unethical without first trying other, better approaches.

Um. If this is your client, with early onset Alzheimer's at age 64, is your agency or facility not offering you training in issues exactly like this? - and please share any techniques!
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Are you a CNA? If so, I would get an LPN or RN involved.

I would also check with daughter if she did mix something into Moms food. And if she did being helpful, then I would ask her not to do it again. No family member should be touching a patients medication or giving them something that the facility isn't authorized by a Dr. to give.
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