Gift ideas for grandma with dementia in a wheelchair!

[nightandthelight]

Any help would be much appreciated! My grandma has quite advanced dementia and is also confined to a wheelchair. In the past she has enjoyed presents such as poetry books, nice stationary, bath stuff etc but these are no longer suitable. I have no idea what to get her :(

How about audio books especially some poetry ones?

An old fashioned bed jacket - the kind you put on forwards ie your arms go in first then it fastens (or just tucks in!) at the back.

A diary? That someone else can fill in for her, detailing visitors, phone calls etc?

My mum knitted her mum (who had dementia) a lovely set of dolls. Soft and pretty and cuddly. She used to fidget and pet them :)

Definitely a heated throw. I am currently under mine. It is my favourite thing in the world.

Lovely fleecy blankets in primark for the last few winters. Dad has several.

Op given she has advanced dementia and is wheelchair bound, my attitude would be ( and it is with my 91yr old dad who has probably less advanced dementia but is a type 2 diabetic ) stuff the diabetic diet for Xmas! If her sugar runs a bit high it doesn't matter - tight diabetic control is to stave off long term complications....and at 91 for dad there isn't a " long term"!

If a little bag of chocolate buttons makes her happy, do it, there are precious few ways of getting pleasure in her situation.

I've knitted dad a lap blanket and am getting canvass photos of the grandchildren done.

Interested to hear about memory books etc. I had an unusually negative time with dad over old photos recently. Suspect he finds seeing people at different ages in photos difficult to compute. He also had a time when mum was alive when he wondered where his wife was and was worried he was having an affair- I guess he didn't know why he was living with an old lady when he was married to a glamorous 1960s version of my mum.

Someone suggested audiobooks..... It might work but dad can hold the thread in them at all - it's too fast information delivery even when he can hear it :(

( not to mention fiddling with the CD player lol)

I might be getting my teens heated blankets for Xmas though!

My DCs steal my heated throw all the time. DH is often found under it too!

Another practical suggestion, but one which was received well and much used, is a 'V' shaped pillow and pillowcase/s for it (some already come with a white or cream pillowcase, but places such as Dunelm , Amazon etc usually have a range of additional pillowcases in a variety of colours and different 'quality' cotton, so lower or higher price options, so you could choose a colour/s they especially like).

I didn't even heated throws were a thing! Thank you so much :)

Twiddlemuff, as suggested above, ragdoll, as above, and no harm in some toiletries too.

Thornton's do gorgeous diabetic boxes of chocolates and toffees have a look my dearwww.thorntons.co.uk/thumbnail/2212.uts l hope she has a lovely Christmas bless her.

I've been told by a friend who works providing aromotherapy to older people with dementia, that the fragrances in the oils she uses seem to be helpful. Apparently scent memory is very powerful.

So a nice smelling hand or body cream (whatever can be used on her) in a familiar fragrance could be very comforting to her - or even bring back unexpected memories.

Nice smelling flowering bulbs to look at?

Will start looking out for something warm with a tactile pattern :) A house plant could be a good idea too to cheer up her room rag!

That's a good idea. I think it's lovely that you are taking so much time to get her something she needs.

If she needs slippers I recommend Dr Keller which makes decent looking wide fit "diabetic" slipperswith Velcro that open right down to the toe. Available on Amazon. Makes it much easier for the carers dressing your GM and look nice.
As she is not in a care home she can have nice wool cardies and shawls - if she was in a care home they would be wrecked in a short time ( we have had to resort to polyester for DMIL).

what worked for us was to buy a voucher for a foot and hand massage.
the old lady in question loved it.
of course, she was accompanied so that she wouldn't feel nervous with a therapist that she did not know.
she really enjoyed it.
those with dementia still enjoy being comforted through touch and gentle massage.

Would she cope with a manicure? A mobile therapist could do it at her house, with you present.

I found this thread in 2022 when searching for christmas present ideas for my grandmother who is at an accelerating stage of Alzheimers - extremely confused but not always, starting to forget who is who.

I made a photo book with just one photo per page of each member of the family and a caption that reminded her who they were. A couple of spare pages at the end had a collage of her children, then her grandchildren, then her great grandchildren. It has gone down brilliantly, it lives on her coffee table and is read daily. Thanks for the advice!