Imaginary chicken dinner
You have to meet people where they are. This also applies in senior care. People with Alzheimer's or other dementia issues live in their own worlds. Some people relive events from their distant past or they are hallucinating and you have to play along or you might upset them. Family members often don't want to play along because they have a hard time accepting their loved ones aren't the same people they used to be. Client: Oh, look at that clown on the other side of the street! Me: Wow! Nice flaming hair! Client's daughter: There's no clown there, Dad! Client: You need new glasses or something? Of course, it's frustrating when the client tells me to go away, that I'm not supposed to be in their house, and no matter how many times I explain I'm with the agency that helps them, they won't remember or accept me. Short-term memory goes first for the majority of people. The most frustrating thing for me is when their grown kids walk through the door an