My mother and I take care of my grandfather on our own. Basically he's gotten drastically worse in the last two years because he mostly sat in his chair and only ever got up to go to the bathroom, to the kichen, or to bed. Since he stopped taking his pills on a regular basis, he's been in the nursing home twice. One time for four weeks and the second for two weeks. He made the effort to walk at the nursing homes, but every time he would come back home he wouldn't try for us. We even had Home Healthcare come and help him with walking exercises and he would do it for them. But, when it was just my mother and myself he would claim that he didn't how. This is causing great stress for us both.We don't know how to get him to take his pills or practice walking. He sits in his wheelchair mostly the whole day., except when we get him ready for morning and bedtime and that's wneh he uses his walker. But he only uses it to take a few steps. We even tried having him walk with the walker, but he gets tired after going across the room once. And tonight after we changed him for bed , he couldn't even make it to the bed(which was a feet away) and he fell to the floor. It took us half an hour to get him up on the bed. I don't mean blame him because he also has demntia, but it's physically and mentally tiring trying to get him to do things and then he won't do them.
how old is ur grandpa ? my dad was 88 , he just passed away a month ago , he started using the wheel chair about the last 4 yrs ,
as for takin the pills i put dad s pills in apple sauce and spoon fed him , that is the best way for dad to take his meds . he used to drop meds on the floor and find em in his shirt , decided it was best that i spoon feed him with his meds so i know he did swallow em all . lol .
my dad had dementia too . i always hold on to him . help him lift him , talk about back breakin , be careful with your back . hope this helps ....
And speaking of keeping him home, might he be better off in a facility where they can get him to exercise, and keep him somewhat active? This assumes that you continue caregiving in a new setting, advocating for him, visiting him often, having meals with him, etc. -- just turning the day-to-day tasks over to professionals. It sounds like that might be better for him physically. What it would be like emotionally is another matter, and one to consider carefully.
Physical activity and mental stimulation are both very important to the well-being of persons with dementia. I hope you can come up with some ways to encourage this is your grandfather.
Why does he resist swallowing the pills, do you know? If it is a swallowing problem or a fear of swallowing problems, then a liquid or crushing them so they are not detectable by texture can help. Is he paranoid about the pills, fearing they will harm him? Or what is the problem? Knowing that might help solve it. (Of course, he may not be able to explain it to you.)
I assume that he is not taking anything that he doesn't really need, but if his pills have not been carefully evaluated by his primary care doctor in the last year or so, that would be worth doing, too.
Good luck!
If your loved one wants to argue about something ...just tell them that they are right...smile and walk away ..come back and try again a short time later ,...they won't remember what happened before. If you argue with them...they get upset....and that feeling stays with them. They might not remember why they feel that way...but it causes them to become more and more argumentive. Keep them as happy and calm as possible....they will be more agreeable.