How do you use technology to stay sane?

clever_bear

I'm wondering what tips and tricks people have found to help them stay organized, even if it's not technological in nature.

I'm not looking for warnings of the pitfalls of technology in general, data mining/sharing risks, etc. I'm fairly well-versed on these general concerns. Of course downsides to any specific product/ap/recommendation is certainly welcome. I love a good pros and cons list.

What I am looking for primarily is how you stay organized for the daily routine. Not so much yours, though I'm always open to suggestions. I'm more wondering about maintaining and remembering all the timing of all medications, meals, etc for the PWD.

Right now, I feel like we're slaves to the routine. I imagine that will change some as time goes on. However, what I mean in particular now is that the routine as dictated by medication timing, meals, etc, dictates how the day goes as opposed to my mom being able to make choices herself about how we spend the day. I try, whenever possible, to allow my mom to make choices like if she wants to do PT exercises before or after dinner.

Not being there all day means I am not as well versed on the morning and afternoon routine as my sister, but I will need to be on the weekends I am there to give her a break. So I'm looking for ways to help me remember and be organized and because keeping the same routine will be good for my mom.

I carry my phone with me and use it for keeping track of general to-do items. We use Alexa for set reminders that are daily and one-time reminders are needed. Anything else people have found helpful? Any particular aps etc? One thing I hate is the notification presentation on the iPhone and that global grouping of notifications means that any ap using notifications to help with reminding will be subject to that as well which just doesn't work well for me.

Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thank you,

Laura

mommyandme (m&m)

We used a simple yet large dry erase calendar that helped to inform and update different caregivers who came in. For awhile it also helped mom understand when things were scheduled and if she’d taken her meds.

jfkoc

Agree...dry erase board.

Also med boxes. You can set up a reminder on your phone using timer.

I think apps would drive me crazy.

I suggest meals occur when your mother is hungry.

I am assuming someone is with your mother and this is not for her.

Emily 123

Depending on how many meds you have to manage, a pillbox that sorts by day and AM/PM is helpful. I had one that was for 31 days worth of pills. each day was a separate box divided into an AM and PM side. It was easy to pre-load and whether Mom was taking her pills or I was setting them up for her it was helpful to have. It also might be worth considering a med review with her providers to see if there are any meds that might be eliminated.

If you're around for meals then it's not so much strict adherence to a time as that they eat, so that tends to be pretty organic-she can eat when you do.

When there's talk of 'the routine' it's not so dependent on meeting a regimented timetable as that things tend to be fairly much the same most days. If your mom always took a shower in the morning, then cue her for that if she's forgetting. That shower will be a prompt for the next thing she usually used to do (like getting dressed for the day). You might be able to get by with just an AM/PM list of things that she normally does to remind you, rather than set up alarms and apps.

A large digital clock that shows day and time is helpful--search 'dementia clock' on Amazon to see examples. If your mom can still cue to day and time and can still take her meds on her own or can follow a schedule this will be helpful.

GothicGremlin

When my sister was at home we used dry erase boards too.

The other thing we did was to keep a binder (one of those Mead spiral notebooks) of notes from the day - what each of us saw, what we did, what we fed Peggy, etc. The entries weren't long, but they were helpful for when a new "shift" of us arrived.

We scrapped the binder once Peggy moved into memory care, but I still keep a journal of sorts. My entries are all dated. I make notes of when I talk to doctors and what we talk about. I note any changes in Peggy's condition, any changes in medications, etc. I find it's really helpful when I talk to memory care staff or her doctors. If they have questions, I can usually provide an answer.

clever_bear

Thank you for all of the suggestions.

I know I did not mention this in the original post, but my mom and I are both blind and cannot make use of anything like a handwritten calendar on a board. Although I definitely can see how useful that would especially with multiple caregivers and letting the PWD also track schedule, appointments, meds, etc.

While mom's braille skills are rusty, she can read a list of her exercises I made. And before you ask, there is no good braille equivalent of a dry erase board really. The equivalent would be an electronic calendar we all have access to on our phones or something like that.

I counted and altogether there are 9 different medication times for my mom throughout the day. Now, that sounds like a lot, but also consider a few things:

-- We have to wait 15-30 minutes before or after any meal to give my mom any medication. She refuses to take it at the same time.

-- She has to take her antacid separately (1) d/t severity of reflux symptoms and (2) because it can affect the way other medications are metabolized, so that's 1 medication timing right there

-- She takes potassium twice per day which has to be dissolved in apple sauce in order to avoid a possible interaction with one of her other medications; so that's times 2 and 3.

-- She has medications she takes after each meal, so 4, 5, and 6.

-- She has an iron pill that she needs to take on an empty stomach with 4 oz. of orange juice, so 7

-- She has a fiber supplement mixed into a whole glass of water that is filling and means it cannot be followed by a meal or other medications b/c she's too full, so 8.

-- And a final bed time medication to help w/ sleep, so 9.

This is not accounting for meal preparation/consumption, etc. Though my sister lives with her, the house is set up for two separate households: separate kitchens, bathrooms, laundry facilities, etc. Sometimes my mom will eat what they have for dinner. Often she eats her own food. And as I live with my partner elsewhere, we eat our own dinner together after I leave mom's house. It is the work of maintaining two households (garbage, buying garbage bags, etc) that I'm trying to also find some better organization for. If I buy a 20 pack of garbage bags, changes are she won't need any more for at least 10 weeks, possibly longeg. So figuring out a way to set a reminder to "check stock of garbage bags" in 10 weeks would be great.

My sister and I and my mom have all figured out ways of working well together on this, and so far no one has run out of anything important. Keeping in mind that it is difficult for any of us to go to the store, so we have most things delivered and have to count on shipping times.

Anyways, thank you all again for your suggestions. I love the dry erase board as it's simple and accessible. Unfortunately it won't work in our situation though.