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Activity/Busy Work Ideas

grace7809
Member Posts: 1 Member
Hello everyone! My mom (61) is in mid-stage dementia right now. She lives at home with my dad (61) and me (27). My dad and I work full-time, and we have cobbled together paid and unpaid caregivers/friends who come hang out with her at the house while we are at work. Recently she has been trying more often to leave the house and drive places (we have taken her keys so she cannot). We are looking for ways to keep her occupied and distract her in those moments. We tried taking her to a "day care" type place. It was an amazing facility with great staff and activities, but she hated it, partially because everyone was so much older than her and partially because she felt it was a waste of time. She has a high need to be productive and feel helpful, so she has no interest in the typical activities like puzzles or movies. For context, before dementia she worked full-time as an administrative assistant, did the taxes for my parents and my dad's business, and ran a large food pantry program at church. These are the things she seems to be missing, as she is always saying she's leaving for work or a food pantry meeting. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for things that would help scratch that itch.
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Comments
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Could she still help at the food pantry somehow even in a small way? Maybe if they understand her situation she could do something to feel she is being productive.
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Hi Grace - welcome to 'here', but sorry for the reason.
I am agreeing with idbehappy2. Perhaps the food pantry could find something for her to do maybe a day or 2 a week? Can she still sort through items?
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Commonly Used Abbreviations
DH = Dear Husband
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ES = Early Stage
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