Hi - My mom has dementia and has been in an ALF for 3 years. They are very attentive to her, but she has always kept her room extremely warm. That's OK with decent temps outside, but in central Florida, it's sometimes near 100 degrees. With her keeping the door closed and the AC shut off, she starts hallucinating due to dehydration. Oh, and she refuses to drink water or anything else between meals - where she drinks sweet iced tea or decaf coffee, both dehydrating. She also insists on having the door closed whether she's in the room or not.
The AC units in each room are the long, low ones underneath the windows. We've tried taping down the door that leads to the controls. We've tried taping over the "off" and "heat" buttons, but she just takes all the tape and covers off. Any ideas for another way to dissuade her from doing this? She becomes very upset if the AC is on - it's a rolling AC that automatically turns off when it reaches a certain temp (we've put it at 77 degrees) -- so it's not on constantly. But whenever it is on and Mom's in the room, she goes right over and shuts it off. I'm at a loss now, as are the ALF staff. Thoughts?
I think 77 is a bit too low for her. You might have to set the thermostat at a higher temp for her comfort.
Remember that an air conditioner is also dehydrating as it removes moisture from the air as it cools the air.
Is she refusing to drink all liquids or just water? If it just water you might try flavoring it with a bit of the water flavorings like MiO. I used that trick to get Luz to drink water. The MiO is just flavor with almost no calories or sugars or any other junk in it.
Best of luck to you.
Im going through this right now with my aunt. Not to the degree that you are. We are having a smart thermostat installed so that we can control the air. Doesn’t sound like that would work in your mom’s room. If it could come on whenever she is out of the room at lunch that might cool the room a bit longer.
Aunts recent blood work indicated she was a bit dehydrated but her salts were good.
She was actually sitting outside this past weekend because she said it was too hot in the house!
We keep the small bottles of water readily available for wherever she sits. We give her protein drinks which her doctor likes. Watch for a yeast infection under your mom’s breast. We had that to contend with one summer.
My FIL was kicked out of my MIL rehab room because he kept turning the AC off. MIL
roommate said she just gave up and was going home. Not sure if she was cutting her therapy short or not.
I thought a nurse was going to spank his hands.
Finally they said he could only come to the commons area.
Today I put a fleece jacket on aunt and she seemed fairly comfortable at 75-77. Good luck. Let us know if you find a solution.
AC removes moisture and if she's cold that's worse because elderly people don't have the muscle mass they used to have in order to shiver and warm up. Get her a box fan or two to circulate air in the room. Keep her curtains drawn during the heat of day e.g. 12pm-4pm. Make sure her clothing is light weight and billowy. Keep lightweight throws nearby.
Best of luck to you!