For the past month, my mother, who is in the late moderate stages of Alzheimer's has started throwing used toilet paper into the trash can in the bathroom as opposed to the toilet. I saw one video about caregiving that suggested changing the color of the toilet seat to help her distinguish. Has anyone else who is a caregiver for an Alzheimer's patient encountered this experience? My father has not heard it from any of the other caregivers in his support group so he does not understand why my mother is behaving this way.
Older people still do this in Korea, because growing up the plumbing was subpar and couldn’t take the paper. They still do it nowadays out of habit even in an ultra modern city like Seoul. All the bathroom stalls still have little baskets for their tp.
That way whoever is with her can make sure that the used toilet paper is going into the toilet instead of the waste paper basket. Plus they can make sure that she in fact is getting good and clean to help prevent any future UTI's as well.
It's a win win for all involved.
Did she come from a country as a child where they had to throw TP in a garbage can?
However, do know that many folks who were born in another country did not have reliable plumbing, and would deal with clogging of the toilets to the extent that toilet paper was typically NOT thrown in the toilet but in a waste container at the side of it. Common to many places in Latin American countries still today.
If mom comes from another country her family may have done this as normal disposal of waste tissues in some prior stage of life.
This is, by the way, a question we have had quite a few times before, so this isn't all that unusual.
Good luck.