My wife is in the last stages of dementia.
One of the problems is being unable to get her to drink from the nursing cup.
After a spell in hospital due to dehydration I have come up with a solution.
It consists of a plastic sauce bottle with a short piece of plastic tubing added.
My wife used to grip the cup with her teeth and would not let go.
This made it impossible for the staff to tilt it and feed her liquid, so they gave up.
I fed her liquid using the plastic bottle and she would still grip it with her teeth, but it left enough of the tube open to let some liquid in. She eventually taught herself to stop the flow with her tongue, so she could suck as much water or juice that she wanted as long as I held up the bottle.
The bottle could be left dangling down if she refused to let it go. No more liquid gets into her mouth, so eventually she gives up and drops the bottle by letting go with her teeth.
Unfortunately I am unable to post a picture here, as it is not on a website!!
It works well and she now drinks enough to stop her being dehydrated and I would recommend it to hospitals and care homes to try it.
One of the problems is being unable to get her to drink from the nursing cup.
After a spell in hospital due to dehydration I have come up with a solution.
It consists of a plastic sauce bottle with a short piece of plastic tubing added.
My wife used to grip the cup with her teeth and would not let go.
This made it impossible for the staff to tilt it and feed her liquid, so they gave up.
I fed her liquid using the plastic bottle and she would still grip it with her teeth, but it left enough of the tube open to let some liquid in. She eventually taught herself to stop the flow with her tongue, so she could suck as much water or juice that she wanted as long as I held up the bottle.
The bottle could be left dangling down if she refused to let it go. No more liquid gets into her mouth, so eventually she gives up and drops the bottle by letting go with her teeth.
Unfortunately I am unable to post a picture here, as it is not on a website!!
It works well and she now drinks enough to stop her being dehydrated and I would recommend it to hospitals and care homes to try it.