My Mother's Journey With Dementia

In our area we have to change the clocks back in the winter time, and move them forward in the summer.  I always remember it by 'spring ahead, fall behind' because it always lined up so well doesn't it?  I found that it doesn't make as much sense to the dementia patient.

I had come to visit my mother to discuss her medication delivery service that I had found for her.  I played that service up to her stating it will be nice especially in the extreme cold or hot weather.  She will not have to leave the house, and never have to worry about refills again.  I was glad that she actually appreciated it, and we have found it does very well for her.

Traditional Clock

The weekend that was coming up was clock changing season.  Since it was fall we need to move the clock back an hour.  My mother handed me the traditional clock she had on the wall, and was asking me questions on how to move it back an hour.  It seemed pretty plain to me that she had lost the capability to do this.

I volunteered to move all her clocks back for her that were in house while I was there.  You could tell by her sigh of relief, and by how thankful she was when I did this for her.  I found that she only had two clocks in the house.

The next day I received a phone call from my mother telling me all her clocks were wrong.  How she had spoken to someone, but I never did get a clear answer as to whom - that stated her clocks were wrong.  She asked if she could come over, and show me the problem. 



When my mother arrived she had a bag with her two traditional clocks, and her ordinary calendar from her wall.  If you ever look at the reminders on those calendars?  They tell you when the time is for the 'official' change, and my mother's calendar stated something like 2:50 AM in the morning.  If I were guessing I would assume whomever she spoke to mentioned the reminder on the calendar.  What I don't think they realized was they were speaking to a dementia patient.

My mother wanted me to fix the clock so that the hands would stay at the number 11 or :50.  Then make the other hands to the clock move as they should.  How her clocks must be broken.  I will tell you it took some time at first to figure out WHAT she was talking about, and that is the conclusion I came up with.

I then asked her to tell me the time that was represented on the clock itself - AS IT!  It was clear to me that the dementia had robbed my mother of being able to read the clock.  I then went up to our bedroom, and grabbed our digital alarm clock.  I came back downstairs with it, and plugged the clock in.  I asked her again to read that clock, and she didn't have an issue with that one.  She told me right away what the clock read.

At that point, I placed a new back up battery in the digital clock.  I asked her if she a regular time she set her alarm for in the morning.  I figured I would set that as we spoke.  I wrote her a note to remind her how to turn on/off the alarm, and taped it to the bottom of the clock.  That was the best I could do at that point, and I realized I would have to look into better options for the future.

I told my mother that the battery I placed in the clock was for the times when the electricity goes out.  How the clock will stay set, and will display the correct time once the electricity comes back on.  It will be nice, because she won't lose the time nor she have to reset it.  You could see the relief on her face.  I told her to place that clock in her bag, and when she got home find a place near where she had the other clock to plug it in.

She called me when she got home, and plugged the clock into the wall.  She told me what time it was.  I told her she was SET TO GO, and asked her again if the clock was easier for her to read?  She was almost giddy with her YES response.

Dementia Clock

Since I realize I needed to figure out a 'clock' solution for my mother?  I went again to google 'Alzheimer clock' or 'dementia clock'.  To my surprise they listed loads of traditional ones.  Heck, I even found an article stating the traditional clocks are easier to read for dementia patients.

I found most clocks they recommended had a large digital section for the calendar (month, day, date), but had a traditional clock along side of the calendar.  It confused me because the only thing I saw truly helpful was the large print for the information to make it easy to read.  My mother's sight wasn't the issue, but her dementia was.

I don't know if my mother is different than most, but traditional clocks confuse her.  That is what I learned from my mother's journey with Dementia.  At this point I want to find a second clock for her, and SURE large print is important!  I have found in my journey so far that something along these lines are going to cost me an arm and leg to get.  So I will continue to search.

I do want to find a clock with a calendar and the time, but they both have to be digital.  Heck it would be great if you can program it to change with the seasons, but I don't know if that is possible.  I know I will be coming to mother's house each time the season changes anyway to make sure I change the backup battery.

What I learned?  Find what works for our particular circumstance.  Traditional Clocks are NOT going to work for my mother with dementia.  I found she is put at ease with the digital.  WHO KNEW!