Friday, 1 January 2016

Horses for courses

Those looking after a person living with dementia often discuss the best way of dealing with the situation where the person you are caring for believes something that is not true  -  believing that their partner is their parent, for example. 

I think that you have to play it by ear depending on your own circumstances. You will find some people for whom honesty will always be the best policy and others who will always go along with what the person they care for says, even adding details they have invented themselves to the person's 'story' . I tend to try not to go down the path of invention which, it seems, can easily get out of hand and even catch you out. Often a bit of distraction works and you don't even need to start spinning an appropriate story. But the ultimate test is what is most likely to make the person feel happy or, at least, untroubled.

2 comments:

  1. I totally agree... But easier said than done! I have been caught out by my husband as I try again & again to explain where the imposters who look just like me come from, who organises us etc. He really wants an explanation! I understand that the idea is to enter into the PWD's world, but if the Pwd is both imaginative and Jesuitical in his capacity for discussion, you can get into big trouble!

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