My Mom who is newly admitted to a MC center and has moderate dementia is afraid of the other persons in her MC center who have severe dementia and are nonverbal. They come up to her and grab my Mom’s arm or barge in to conversations. Any suggestions as to how to help her deal with this?
This environment will not help her in any way.
Many folks with dementia also suffer from anxiety. Your mom might benefit from a low dose of anti-anxiety medication.
You must be able to expect your mother to feel safe, so talk to the administration about how THEY will ensure that.
if you can, go for when a more hands on activity is scheduled…. like they r going to be doing something Halloween, Thanksgiving… ask Activities person if you can help her prep in advance so that you r there when residents start to come in. You’ll be able to see who’s who and where mom might fit in better. Absolutely seek out other residents family, I bet there some family that go real, real, REAL often. They will be more than happy to give you their opinion & down-low on the others. This way you can know if moms being semi accurate or not as to what’s happening between her & other residents.
Also let Activities know if your moms crafty or has certain skills. Even if it was years ago that mom was a Cub Scout den mom or did floral arranging.
I am sure one will latch on as a buddy.
the staff should also help if they truly see a problem.
Give her time.
When she arrived, she was a bit confused by the residents with more advanced dementias.
She adapted, and now, if someone else gets too close, she sternly tells them to back away, or, just a loud, “NO!”
It all got easier for her to manage.
Best wishes.