My 83yr old father suffers from Parkinson's and dementia with Lewy bodies. He currently lives with my mother who has her own very serious medical conditions. He is often awake at night and wonders off around the house. So we adapted the spare room for him with nice furniture and a hospital style bed (rails at the side so he can't get out and wonder) for his own safety. He is now refusing to sleep in the new room because he hates the bed. This means my mum is hardly getting any sleep and this is making her very distressed and physically ill. I can't help as I don't live with them and have a full time job and studies. How can we convince him to move and accept the new room? Please help.
I am afraid I agree with blannie. It is not safe for your parents to spend nights alone. They must either have a in-home help through the night, or one or both of them need a care center. If they can afford it, bring in night supervision. If Dad wanders around all night, that is OK if someone is there to keep him inside and safe. Or someone can sit with him in his new room, perhaps reading to him or looking at photo albums, etc. Mother needs her rest and must be kept undisturbed.
My mother and my husband and my son each had hospital beds at home. In all cases they had half-rails that they could use to help pull themselves up. Neither prevented them from getting out of bed. That isn't really the function of an at-home hospital bed.
Oh, hospital beds with rails pulled up are either not allowed or not recommended here in the States for the elderly with dementia... the elderly will try to crawl out of the bed and get their legs entangled in the rails which could result in serious injury.