MiL hit another resident.

[ChickenJeffrey]

MiL is 92 and has dementia. My husband got a phone call from the care home to say that she'd lashed out at a resident who also has dementia. She has never been aggressive and I know that dementia can cause personality changes but this is a real worry. She's been checked for a uti and it's not that.

Our main concern is that if she does it again she may be asked to leave.

My MIL did this all the time when she first moved in - she has vascular dementia. Lots of phone calls from the home - first time just as we were about to board a flight to Lisbon. She even scratched someone's face - we saw this poor woman when we visited her with this huge scratch on her face. Her medication and continued lack of mobility has seemed to foil her aggressive attempts currently but never say never.

The home she is in is a specialised dementia home so we have also received calls such as someone pushed your mum over so I don't know if its expected but its not unusual behaviour. They just monitor the "aggressor" for a while I think - like in a nursery.

I'm afraid it's par for the course with dementia patients. They shouldn't be expecting you to do anything, it's just for information. You can say to them that they don't need to tell you. If it's repeated the adult mental health nurses can get involved at provide anti anxiety meds

sadly it can be par for the course for some dementia etc people. it can make working with people who are very risky at times all I can say if it is a registered Dementia home then be guided by them I would say

The home will risk assess, monitor any more behaviour and hopefully put in place a plan to reduce the risk of this happening again, they have a duty of care to all their residents and if she needs a higher level of care or a gp visit they need to discuss that.

It happens quite often. If it is a specialist dementia home, often they will source designated 1:1 support to try and distract/de escalate. Asking residents to leave is typically a last resort once they have tried everything

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. It's really upsetting, not least getting the calls that something has happened.

My MIL became quite aggressive when her dementia progressed. She hit another resident a few times (once with the medication trolley) and became quite hard to manage. It was a specialist dementia unit in the care home iirc.

There were occasions when she had to be sedated, and we were very worried she may end up being sedated. However, the care home persisted with cha ging her medication u till they found something that worked.

The biggest issue was she felt like someone was coming after her, all the time. Her anxiety combined with reducing ability to communicate and it was awful for her. The medication changes took a lot of trial and error and then began to work.

Today they are sat happily chatting about MiLs upcoming wedding, which is her most frequent delusion.
We're just pleased it seems to have calmed down.