Dementia - Alzheimer"s - Problems You May Face in the Bathroom Part II
In part one I very briefly explained the setting, our home where we care for a few elderly people.
Each of them has some problem they need help with.
One of them, a Mr.
Q, is the subject of these articles.
Mr.
Q has been diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
However, the problems he faces and what someone who cares for him has to deal with, is essentially the same types of problems anyone who has to care for a loved one with dementia -- Alzheimer's has to cope with.
Brushing Teeth This is something he used to do with just a little prompt.
However now he is almost lost whenever he enters the bathroom so something as simple as brushing his teeth just won't occur by itself.
We have to get the brush, put on the toothpaste, hand it to him and only then will he brush for a real short time.
When he finishes he will almost always put the toothbrush in the wrong place so we have to show him where it goes, although he will not remember next time where it is.
Wash Face, Hands He used to do this, but not now.
We have to hand him the washcloth and show him what to do with it.
Washing his hands - well he has pretty much forgotten what to do.
Even then he will only partly rub one hand against another one, or two times.
Helping him doesn't seem to work well either.
Either he forgets or just doesn't comprehend the act of washing his hands anymore.
Bathing Problems He has somewhat fewer bathing problems lately compared to when he first arrived in our facility.
However there are major exceptions every so often.
Initially he totally resisted us taking off his clothes.
He wouldn't do it himself so there was always a real struggle.
Now he resists much less but will still grab something, anything in sight and won't let go, his old clothes, a towel, his new clothes, etc.
, whatever is in sight.
Sometimes we have forgotten to remove something within his reach and he will grab it and not let go.
Recently he really put up a fight and it took three of us to control him.
That was an exception, but it does happen once in a while.
Sometimes when giving him a bath or shower he will grab the faucet and turn it or off, grab the washcloth and wash the area you just rinsed.
He will refuse to sit down on the chair provided in the bathtub and in general refuse to do whatever you tell him.
This holds true for most things even outside the bathroom and it presents a major challenge in dealing with our Mr.
Q in particular.
Another thing that is potentially a big problem is either getting in or getting out of the tub he will struggle with you.
This can be quite dangerous if getting out of the tub since being wet he could slip and fall easily if things get out of control.
We sometimes have to dry him in the tub to help prevent that type of problem.
Going to the Bathroom at Night This is not a single problem, but can be any combination of the previously mentioned problems and others.
Others might be falling on the way to or from the washroom.
The person might be confused and not know where the bathroom is or go into the wrong room or even a closet.
Believe it or not, our Mr.
Q must have believed the closet in his room was the bathroom and did his No.
2 business in the closet more than once.
Because of the state of some people with dementia / Alzheimer's it might be necessary for you to always monitor them in the bathroom.
This means you need to either be awake, or awakened whenever the person gets up to go to the bathroom when you are asleep.
When no caretaker is available we have had very good luck with the following solution to this potentially critical problem.
I installed a group of bells above the bedroom door so they will ring whenever Mr.
Q leaves his bedroom to go to the bathroom (or elsewhere).
The bells are placed so the door remains open about six inches, but if opened more, the bells will ring and will wake us up so we can help him to do the right thing in the bathroom.
Leaving the door cracked open also allows us to hear any noises there or if he calls us.
Understanding will Help Those are some of the bathroom problems you might be faced with if you have to take care of someone with dementia / Alzheimer's.
It needs to be mentioned here that Alzheimer's is a form of dementia.
Sometimes they are used interchangeably, which is technically incorrect.
Each person with these problems is different and outward symptoms may be different or even non-existent for some of these problems.
There may be other problems you might experience too, which I have not mentioned in this short article.
However you can expect there will come a time when the situation deteriorates to the point that you notice strange behavior in some of the things they do.
Try to understand they are not doing these things with bad intentions and it will help you to cope with the person, their problems, and their behavior.
Each of them has some problem they need help with.
One of them, a Mr.
Q, is the subject of these articles.
Mr.
Q has been diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
However, the problems he faces and what someone who cares for him has to deal with, is essentially the same types of problems anyone who has to care for a loved one with dementia -- Alzheimer's has to cope with.
Brushing Teeth This is something he used to do with just a little prompt.
However now he is almost lost whenever he enters the bathroom so something as simple as brushing his teeth just won't occur by itself.
We have to get the brush, put on the toothpaste, hand it to him and only then will he brush for a real short time.
When he finishes he will almost always put the toothbrush in the wrong place so we have to show him where it goes, although he will not remember next time where it is.
Wash Face, Hands He used to do this, but not now.
We have to hand him the washcloth and show him what to do with it.
Washing his hands - well he has pretty much forgotten what to do.
Even then he will only partly rub one hand against another one, or two times.
Helping him doesn't seem to work well either.
Either he forgets or just doesn't comprehend the act of washing his hands anymore.
Bathing Problems He has somewhat fewer bathing problems lately compared to when he first arrived in our facility.
However there are major exceptions every so often.
Initially he totally resisted us taking off his clothes.
He wouldn't do it himself so there was always a real struggle.
Now he resists much less but will still grab something, anything in sight and won't let go, his old clothes, a towel, his new clothes, etc.
, whatever is in sight.
Sometimes we have forgotten to remove something within his reach and he will grab it and not let go.
Recently he really put up a fight and it took three of us to control him.
That was an exception, but it does happen once in a while.
Sometimes when giving him a bath or shower he will grab the faucet and turn it or off, grab the washcloth and wash the area you just rinsed.
He will refuse to sit down on the chair provided in the bathtub and in general refuse to do whatever you tell him.
This holds true for most things even outside the bathroom and it presents a major challenge in dealing with our Mr.
Q in particular.
Another thing that is potentially a big problem is either getting in or getting out of the tub he will struggle with you.
This can be quite dangerous if getting out of the tub since being wet he could slip and fall easily if things get out of control.
We sometimes have to dry him in the tub to help prevent that type of problem.
Going to the Bathroom at Night This is not a single problem, but can be any combination of the previously mentioned problems and others.
Others might be falling on the way to or from the washroom.
The person might be confused and not know where the bathroom is or go into the wrong room or even a closet.
Believe it or not, our Mr.
Q must have believed the closet in his room was the bathroom and did his No.
2 business in the closet more than once.
Because of the state of some people with dementia / Alzheimer's it might be necessary for you to always monitor them in the bathroom.
This means you need to either be awake, or awakened whenever the person gets up to go to the bathroom when you are asleep.
When no caretaker is available we have had very good luck with the following solution to this potentially critical problem.
I installed a group of bells above the bedroom door so they will ring whenever Mr.
Q leaves his bedroom to go to the bathroom (or elsewhere).
The bells are placed so the door remains open about six inches, but if opened more, the bells will ring and will wake us up so we can help him to do the right thing in the bathroom.
Leaving the door cracked open also allows us to hear any noises there or if he calls us.
Understanding will Help Those are some of the bathroom problems you might be faced with if you have to take care of someone with dementia / Alzheimer's.
It needs to be mentioned here that Alzheimer's is a form of dementia.
Sometimes they are used interchangeably, which is technically incorrect.
Each person with these problems is different and outward symptoms may be different or even non-existent for some of these problems.
There may be other problems you might experience too, which I have not mentioned in this short article.
However you can expect there will come a time when the situation deteriorates to the point that you notice strange behavior in some of the things they do.
Try to understand they are not doing these things with bad intentions and it will help you to cope with the person, their problems, and their behavior.