I would like my mother-in-law to start marking the days off on the calendar. I feel this will help her to know what day it is and if we need to remind her of appointments or special items. I have put this on her refrigerator with pens handy. So far after 4 days, she still has not caught on. I go over every day and ask her, mark it off, and tell her I will keep reminding her until she starts doing this. Any other suggestions? Thank you.
He tries hard to remember, gets frustrated and depressed when he doesn't do things right. I'm hoping that being among other people similar to his problems and professional care givers, it will keep him feeling better.
What helps your mother with these tasks depends so much on her. Mine has a fairly good orientation to time. Her problem lies more with reasoning and memory of events. People with a lesser sense of time may not be helped much with a refrigerator calendar. The clock would be an excellent gift for these people.
Repetition can form habits, but until the habit is formed, how is the person with dementia going to remember to do the action? If you do it with her consistently every day at the same time, perhaps after two or three weeks she'll do it herself -- or perhaps not. And once she gets the hang of marking the calendar (if she does) what will stop her from doing it several times a day?
We had an atomic clock that displayed the time, the date, and the day of the week. No one had to do anything to change it each day. My husband would look at it and say, "Oh, it is Friday. I thought it was Saturday."
My mother keeps track of the day (sort of) by looking at the day's newspaper. "It is Wednesday, so I guess the Twins don't play today." But when she is not looking at the paper she forgets what day it is or why it matters. She may eventually know that she has her hair done on Thursdays, but if she never does, so what? She relies on others to be her memory now.
I think your plan is sound. Keep at it, and maybe it in a few weeks you'll see results. If not, find some other way to help orient her to the date. A large atomic clock that displays this information might work.
Perhaps you could get her a clock that TOLD her what day it was? Here's one for $19.95. firststreetonline.
Or you could call her every day and ask her to mark it off the calendar? (Put it right by the phone....?)