One of the many things you might experience with a person with dementia / Alzheimer's is bedroom behavior or problems concerning going to bed. The problems can be serious or not so serious. Here are some of the things experienced with our Mr. Q who we have had slightly over four months. Mr. Q has been diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
We own an RCFE (Residential Facility for the Elderly) in Southern California. The particular home mentioned in this series of articles is the home we live in as opposed to a home solely dedicated to the business only. There we care for a few elderly residents. The State of California only allows us to care for a maximum of six residents in a normal RCFE in a home. All our residents have some difficulties caring for themselves or some other problem. Our resident, a Mr. Q who I have been writing about for the past few months, is in our home for care.
Adult Bed Rail
Going to bed too many times When Mr. Q first arrived he was able to go to bed by himself. That is he would go to bed when he was washed up, went to the toilet, brushed his teeth and we took him to the bedroom. That has changed, however, over the four months he has been here. It has progressively gotten to the point where now he is totally unable to go to bed by himself. Early on he would climb in the bed easily and cover himself. The main problem we had then was he would go to bed every time we would take our eyes off of him. Sometimes he would sneak in bed maybe twenty or thirty times a day. Living alone, that might be ok, but not in a setting like ours.
Undressing in bed Mr. Q would often get undressed in bed. He would go to bed with his clothes on, but sometime during the night he would get up and take his clothes off and get back in bed. Sometimes he would take his pajama pants off. Seldom would he take his tee shirt off, but he would take his underwear off quite frequently. That is less of a problem now.
Wetting/Pooping in bed or on floor It is a problem if he wets in the bed or worse yet poops in the bed. A few times he pooped in the closet and several times on the floor. He didn't used to do that before, but now he is incontinent. He wets virtually every night. Now only once in a while will he poop in the bed or on the rug.
Going to bed period This is a big problem. Initially it was not a problem of him climbing into bed. Now he cannot seem to even climb in bed most of the time. In fact sometimes he has apparently gotten up in bed during the night and is crouched vertically on the bed when we check him at night and occasionally in the morning. He does not seem to know how to lie down. Maybe the medicine causes that, maybe something else. Now in almost all cases I have to lift him up into bed. He seems to have forgotten how to get in bed. The caretakers cannot lift him as he is too heavy so they have to position him just right and twist and lift his legs to position him in the bed.
Falling out bed This is a potential problem. It has happened a few times. The State in its infinite wisdom prevents us from having a full rail on the bed to keep it from happening. There is such a thing as the doctor prescribing a half rail, but it may not be easy to get some doctors to approve it. Ordinary beds will not handle a rail so you need a very expensive hospital bed to accept any sort of rail. After first refusing to give us approval for a hospital bed we went back a couple of days later and asked again. The second time we told him we had a hospital bed and needed approval for a half side rail. He said yes that time and now we have Mr. Q in our extra hospital bed.
Continued in Part II
Bar Stools Kitchen Counter Digital Camera And Video Camera In One