Uses for dry-erase whiteboards

dancsfo

I've read about how people use dry-erase boards in the forum. So it seems that you can use it to write whatever you want -- reminders, reassuring messages, etc. Any interesting ways that you can share here? For the PWD, I am going to use it as a reminder for meds, day of the week, etc.

Incidentally, I suppose just paper/pen is fine, except that a whiteboard can be bigger, can be colorful, privacy (can be erased) and there's less waste. Any other reason?

I've read articles such as the following:

https://healthcarechannel.co/dementia-whiteboard-3-key-benefits-of-using-whiteboards-in-aged-care-and-medical-facilities/

and

https://www.grayingwithgrace.com/dementia-whiteboards/

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harshedbuzz

I feel like the whiteboard is something of a boilerplate accommodation offered to struggling families/caregivers. In addition to all of the reasons @Victoria2020 listed for why they generally don't work, I feel like they aren't what the PWD needs.

IME, sometimes the repeated questions are not so much about gathering information but about having a human connection. As language skills start to slip in dementia's disease progression, the ability to ask for attention and reassurance becomes more difficult to articulate and they're left with only questions. In that context, redirection to a written message seems cruel.

I do know one spousal caregiver who was successful with the white board. He and his wife had a large family and a medical practice together-- they had always maintained a white board for a master schedule for the family as well as one for listing items they'd run out of for shopping. Because this was baked-in muscle memory, his wife continued to look for it and responded to reassurances on it into stage 5-6.

HB

BassetHoundAnn

The white board was a big fail with my mom. I bought one for her while she was still living in an independent-living apartment and I was checking on her every day. She was probably between Stages 4 & 5 and could still read, although with some difficulty. I wrote on the board meal times, reminders for beauty appointments, and a reminder that I would be there soon to check on her. I also wrote reminders if I would be picking her up the next day for a doctor or dentist appointment. After about two weeks the camera in her apartment recorded her carrying the white board out the door to deposit in the building trash room across the hall. She put the markers and eraser in the microwave. Although she could still read, the reminders I wrote on the board, or posted around her apartment, seemed to mean nothing to her. They just didn't register with her. I assume nothing about the board made sense to her. Hence the trip to the trash.

JeriLynn66

Big fail for us… my FIL could never recognize the need to read or follow.. yet he “reads” books all the time..

M1

Ditto here, a fail. Its still up, but she doesn't understand it.

dancsfo

Thank you all for your answers. It seems that it can't hurt a lot, but not a lot of evidence that it will do anything for the PWD, except the illusion it provides caretakers that you're doing something. As others noted, it may depend on the stage too. I was not aware that it may be cruel if it becomes a redirection and a substitute to answering questions in person. So it some sense, it may actually be harmful for well-being.

I suppose that it may be a convenient substitute for slips of paper an early stage PWD may note things on, if a PWD will look at the board consistently for reminders.

@harshedbuzz : Your comment on the need for a connection, hence asking questions often is a great insight. It makes a lot of sense. I think the answer doesn't really matter all the time, but it's a desire to have some conversation. It's not unlike talking about the weather.

mommyandme (m&m)

Our giant whiteboard was a calendar. While it helped for awhile, mom did finally lose the ability to benefit from it. I used it the whole time for our hired caregivers and myself, though. Looking back it was helpful for lots of reasons, just not for its initial use.

housefinch

@harshedbuzz great point about the repeated questions! Ironically I’ve seen many similarities between my stepdad with dementia and our child with autism and intellectual disability/severely delayed speech. Of course, my child can make forward progress and PWD doesn’t (I don’t want to minimize that). But our child gets into repetitive questioning loops, too, because she wants to connect socially and is otherwise unsure how to generate back and forth conversation. It can definitely be challenging, though, to listen to!

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Emily 123

Yes! 'Let's buy the electronic scrolling photo frame to provide an always available photo album.'

Ah. Unplugged. Every time. Foiled by my mother's thrifty, 'Child of the Depression' ways.

The whiteboard was a big fail--it wasn't a previously established familiar action of Mom's to look for one, and she had no short term memory left to learn a new behavior.

Notes + a calendar with checkboxes, + an AM/PM pillbox + an Alzheimer's digital clock, all placed in the bathroom, worked for a little bit, but not long...as others have noted, by the time you're doing these thing it's probably too late for relying on visual cues alone & oversight is needed.

But would be lovely for loving messages if the whiteboard could be put somewhere they'd see.

harshedbuzz

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/184569#Comment_184569

I say this all the time. Dad's dementia was like watching someone develop autism.

The loss of empathy, the apathy, the inability to initiate and execute even a simple plan, the odd use of language, the sensory issues, the vocal stims, repetitive interests and limited diet- oh my. It was a flashback to DS at age 4.

HB

BassetHoundAnn

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/184573#Comment_184573

You're right, Victoria, she did! My Loggins & Messina, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer LPs--all in the trash. 😪

In all seriousness, there was a certain point when my mom started tossing in the trash anything that she did not understand or identify. Slippers I bought her (Who's were they?). Bottles of shampoo (What is this?). Even food. That's probably how the white board met its demise.

I was surprised that the Alzheimer's clock didn't go the same route. Another fail. She couldn't understand what it said. Although sometimes she has moments of clarity. She's currently in late Stage 7 but the other night she looked at the Alzheimer's clock and said "That says it's Friday night at 7:30. Is that true?" Incredible. She hadn't been able to tell the time or day with that for years.

SDianeL

I tried a calendar that we wrote things on and he never even looked at it. Total fail. The things that helped my DH: a large digital clock with the date, day, time, a digital watch, a larger remote for the TV (Spectrum sent it at no charge), I took over his meds using weekly meds organizers. I would take them out and put them in a smaller one for him to take when the time came. Now he can no longer understand am/pm so that no longer works. I set the alarm on my phone and when it buzzes, I take him his meds and watch him take them. In the morning he takes them at breakfast while I watch him take them. Reminders don't work if they forget to look at the reminder... guess it depends on what stage they are in.

Kibbee

I have a white board in DH’s room where I write the day, date and year in the hope it will help him stay oriented to the calendar. The comments here made me curious so I went into his room, stood right next to the white board, and asked him what day it was. He said nothing, just gave me a blank look.

OK, so white board fail for assisting with date and year! I’ll keep it in there though because I write other things on it…little jokes, funny drawings, notes. I know he sees those occasionally because he will make comments about them.

Otterly

We have a small one that she can’t miss ( attached above the bathroom mirror) on it I put todays date, and if I’m go out , what time I lefg and what time I will be back.

I did make the mistake of telling my LO the other evening I was going out to the chicken coop for a few minutes. I didn’t put it in the board, and she totally didn’t know where I was. So now I use it if I’m in the yard as well,

It works, at least for now

Joyce Cooper

The white board was a fail for our family member who had memory issues, but it helped the rest of us stay on top of things. We used it for various appointments and specific events. Kept us in line....