Hi everyone. My mum has lived with me and my family (me, husband, daughter (17) and son (13)) for 10 years now. Mum's 87 and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in November 2019. She has the kind of dementia which affects speech and behaviour rather than memory. I don't know how much of her behaviour is to do with her dementia, but I'd appreciate any advice anyone can offer. Mum has bad personal hygiene (doesn't wash her hands after using the bathroom) and often gives herself diarrhoea as a result. She started using hand towels instead of toilet roll, so we installed a hand towel dispenser in the bathroom. I often find suspicious brown smears on furniture and have started cleaning several times a day. She likes to snack a lot, so I put all of her snack food into 2 cupboards in the kitchen which she can easily reach. Today I opened a cupboard higher up and found an open packet of cream crackers which smelled suspiciously like poo. My son said that she'd been eating them while I took my daughter out for a walk. I've binned the crackers and cleaned everything, but whenever I try to talk to mum about this (or anything else) she just laughs at me. I am still teaching a full timetable from home and am finding things really hard to deal with at the moment. Maybe I'm just too tired/too close to the situation to think of a solution. Has anyone experienced this before / could suggest something that might help? Thank you!
Hi Rosie and welcome
I've found some links that may help ...
Although you may well have already googled.
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-suppo ... continence
quite old threads but you may find some help.
https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads ... ces.12641/
Does Mum share the same bathroom as the rest of the family.
Are there signs in the bathroom/door about washing hands etc
Not a UK site but might be good to read.
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/care ... 457691.htm
Unfortunately, it maybe a case of someone prompting and/or being with Mum. While she completes the task of washing her hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euZ5e5cXPjA
How to help someone with dementia to remember to wash their hands regularly
You are doing an amazing job!!