Grandma has hallucinations...

kacierae

Hello everyone...let me provide a bit of background. 

My grandma is 90 years old.  She was moved to an assisted living facility Jan 2019.  She has not been clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, or dementia, but it runs in the family, and she has all the signs.  We just recently moved her from assisted living to memory care, because she needed more supervision than what assisted living provided.  After cleaning her old room, it was evident that the move should have been made sooner.  Through Covid, they were not allowed to go to the dining room and meals were delivered to her room, she has developed a habit of not eating her meals and feeding them to “grandpa”, who has been dead 8 years.  Thus, she has lost a lot of weight.  Now that she is in memory care, they do not have kitchenettes in their room and they have to go down to the dining room for meals.  They also have lots of great activities for them to partake in.  She will not leave her room, because she says she has babies in there.  Once she is out of her room, she is ok, and eats and participates in the games etc.  but the cnas are having an increasingly difficult time convincing her to leave her room.  Anyone have any ideas on how to make this easier?

sandwichone123

The CNAs need to promise to take good care of the "babies" or maybe promise that the babies will also be brought to the dining room. My grandmother was unable to sleep in her own bed while in assisted living because her mother and "the kids" were on the bed. We never did figure out who the kids were because she had only one son. Whatever the delusion is, it has to be addressed acceptably for the patient's own satisfaction, so the story that works is the right story.

towhee

It is marvelous that she will eat and participate in activities. I am sorry that her physical decline and probably anxiety at being in a new place have caused this delusion. You could try looking for triggers such as pictures of babies, stuffed animals, regular TV shows showing babies, another resident walking around with a baby doll, etc. If there are any you could try covering them up before she wakes up in the morning and see if that helps. I would not move them though, because if she gets upset you need to be able to take the off the cover and then apologize for blocking the view.

The previous poster is right whatever story you use has to be acceptable to her and address her anxiety. Telling her there are no babies is not going to work. You could ask one of the CNAs to pretend to be a babysitter for long enough to get her out of the room, saying the doctor said you had to eat, exercise, etc. to stay healthy for the babies.

I hope something works.

kacierae

She does have pictures of her great grand babies in her room, as well as some stuffed animals.  We got her one of those barking dogs...which she has shoved food into its mouth, and made it drink water, so it no longer barks and is covered in food...

I’ve done some more reading on these forums, and now am understanding this is a common behavior with dementia patients.  

Do you think giving her a baby doll will help ease her anxiety?  Maybe she is thinking she needs to care for the babies, but she can’t physically see the baby, because there isn’t one, and she gets worried and then doesn’t want to leave her room?  We have told her the babies are at a babysitter when she asks, but maybe physically having a doll would help?  The cna could tell her they are going to watch the baby while she goes to lunch?  

sandwichone123

Some dementia patients do very well with a baby doll--a soft one--it's not required to be terribly realistic, but it should be about the size of a real baby and soft and not too heavy for her to hold.

She can bring the baby with her wherever she goes and it can be very comforting. The baby doesn't have to stay behind at mealtime. She probably will never think of trying to feed it, and I wouldn't suggest mentioning the idea.