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My grandfather,87 I had moved into memory care April 1st. Since then ive noticed a great improvement in how he looks and acts which is a great relief. He use to spend everyday on the property we live on mowing and building things. Now he's in a place that while it has outdoor space and activities its not his "man" work. So hes starting to get a little stir crazy. He still thinks the stay is temporary because it's like the movie 50 first dates if I were to say hey you need to live here there would be a snap in him im sure. Once hes been there 30 days they say its ok to take him like out to lunch ect. Ive been educating myself alot on dementia and alzhiemers, more so since his stay ,then the past 2 years. Any advice on further resources or guidance from personal experience taking a loved one on outing from the memory care home? Mind you now thats hes propely eating and taking medications he is VERY with it until about 1:30 his sundowning trickles in slowly. So my window is morning outings.

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Moms NH allowed people to plant flowers around the outside Gazabo and along the fence.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Your grandfather now is learning and maintaining his new routine in his new home, and the worst thing you can do is to take him out of his routine, by taking him out of the facility. If you've been educating yourself on dementia, then you have already learned the importance of maintaining a routine in a person with dementia. So instead of taking him out and about just plan your visits in the mornings at his facility when he's more alert and can enjoy them without disrupting his routine.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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It sounds like he likes to be active. Can you take him to a small park where you can walk around and then have sandwiches outside?
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My mom had a setback when cousins took her out for the day. It just depends on the person if it will be good or not. With mom it caused increased irritation and anxiety about living in MC. It's been a year and she is asking again to go and I'm hoping my cousins don't take her out again.
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JoAnn29 7 hours ago
Your Mom, you make the rules. You can tell the staff that no one but you can take Mom out.
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You are correct in the morning visit strategy. However I would have tempered expectations about taking him out of the facility completely as people with dementia get disoriented and anxious, in "new" situations. They can't transition like they used to. You think he's really "with it" but if he took a cognitive test I think you'd be surprised at how much he's really not "with it". If you take him out you run the risk of him not wanting to go back in -- and then what? Almost no facility resident really wants to be there. Do not take him to his former house, not even to just "see" it. It won't go well.

I would think about making an activity that is in or on the grounds of his facility first and see how he does. We brought in lunch for my MIL, in LTC for 7 years. I'd take her order then we'd picnic on the nice outdoor grounds of her facility. It had activities and events and we'd accompany her to those. That's about all she could handle cognitively.

Then you must think about him going into a public bathroom by himself. If he's incontinent at all, this may become a challenge. My Uncle would poop his pants while just sitting in front of you and then deny anything was amiss.

Start with little outings and work up to see how it goes. Teepa Snow has a lot of excellent education content on dementia and caregiver-specific strategies on YouTube. I learned some very useful stuff from her channel.
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Beedevil66 14 hours ago
Not all facilities are as you mention, sad to say, especially ones in the city. Some could have very little to none in the way I of greenery and trees, not to mention outside areas could have a high fence surrounding the whole outside area.

In know of a few facilities in my area that are just like this, even the well to do areas.
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