Keeping things the same reduces cognitive load

dancsfo · September 28

I knew that reducing too much mental load is good for a PWD, and I find the keeping things completely the same is a help.

This includes the brand of crackers, color and pattern of a dish cloth, TV schedule, etc. Even a small change seems to create confusion, as PWD would ask all day where the dishcloth was. (the old one was thrown away, and I replaced it with a new one. I had to go find a new one similar to the old one)

When a brand of some grocery item changes their packaging, I am sometimes tempted to put it into an older jar I had saved. But this seems unsanitary.

I'm not sure how far to take this. It's tempting to play the same recorded TV show repeatedly, but PWD seems to get bored. But TV news seems to cause distress, even though PWD asks for it. I have to switch to something else if the images are distressing (e.g. current disasters, or revisiting 9/11 during anniversary)

I don't know how far some readers of this forum follow the "sameness" technique. It seems to keep the PWD calm, but it also may seem to reduce any good stimulation needed for PWD too. I'm also not sure what living in a perpetual loop does to a caregiver's mental state.

Damiross · September 28

Not all dementia patients are like this. My wife is in memory care. I bring her snacks but not every day. She doesn't seem to notice this. I don't arrive at the enter the same time every day. She doesn't seem to notice.

dancsfo · September 28

You make a good point. There needs to be some memory to realize the desire for the same thing. As someone said, if you met one PWD, then you just met one PWD. (i.e. they're all different)

caregiving daughter · September 28

I think you can do both

Maintain a very consistent routine with meal and bed times, Tuesday outings, getting dressed by 9, etc.

You could mix up the outings, e.g., resale shop, holiday lights, small drug store, walk in the park; you could mix up the TV, e.g., Colombo, Leave it to Beaver, Professional Tennis matches; you could mix up the meals, e.g., homemade soups, crockpot meals, Happy Meal on occasion; you could mix up late morning time with folding laundry, cleaning out the tool box, dusting, swaying with music from the 60's

harshedbuzz · September 28

@dancsfo

As a caregiver, you seem especially tuned into your DH and what helps him function the best he can. Kudoes to you for that.

IME, the cognitively challenging brain runs at a higher cost than before. Your attempts to ease the cognition spent on recognizing fairly inconsequential aspects of his day-to-day likely makes it easier for him to function. That said, I would not burn myself out trying to maintain sameness. At some point visual processing becomes so unreliable, he won't necessarily be able to identify everyday objects in front of him like what is food or pants from shirts.

While doctors often suggest mental exercises and stimulation, I have yet to find any refereed journal articles that show a benefit for anything other than some socialization. A PWD loses their working memory, the one used to learn new things, fairly early on. In terms of TV, I put parental controls on news, weather and the channels that carried mom's crime dramas. Dad simply didn't have the cognition to process them— he'd tell me about being the victim of a kidnapping/murder the night before and look out at the sun hitting the pond out back in PA and describe palm trees swaying in a FL storm. It's best to keep viewing light— old sitcoms, old movies, and the like. Some folks like Zinnia TV; dad liked old golf and football programming as well as the auto auction.

HB

dancsfo · September 28

Thanks @Damiross @caregiving daughter @harshedbuzz Those are good insights. It's so easy to overdo something that seems to make a difference, but actually it may be marginal. Thanks for the reference to Zinnia TV. It certainly is a service that fills a specific need and I was not aware of it.

Keeping things the same reduces cognitive load

Comments

Commonly Used Abbreviations

Community Guidelines

Categories