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On the Brink of War: Protecting the Alzheimer's Patient

© Brenda S. Parris

On the way to work this morning I heard my favorite radio station commenting on the need to protect children from television news of the war, especially with today media coverage, where so much detail is shown. This is also so very true for Alzheimer's patients, who sometimes even think that what they are viewing, in a television series or movie, is real, and even that the people on TV are there in the same room with them.

You certainly need to think of additional food, water, first aid products, and other items that, God forbid, might be needed in the case of an emergency. But just as importantly you also need to protect your Alzheimer's patient emotionally, meanwhile saving yourself multiplied complications with their confusion, delusions, and/or hallucinations.

An article at AlzheimerSupport.com gives some tips on sheltering your AD patient from news of terrorism and war:

1. Remove newspapers and magazines with strong visuals.
2. Change radio stations from news-talk to music.
3. Keep the doors of communication open so loved ones don't feel isolated.
4. Avoid in-depth discussions of war in front of loved ones.
5. Seek out support groups and learn how to address difficult issues.

In addition, I would suggest trying to do what I did - watch old movies and TV series that are favorites of your Alzheimer's patient instead of TV news and today's movies and series which are often so full of violence. Avoid war movies, and those about natural disasters, tragic accidents, and other disasters. Get your news from the Internet (which I wish I'd had when I was my mother's caregiver) and earphones hooked to a radio.

My mother and I certainly had our share of somewhat minor natural disasters and emergencies, some of which could have been much more dangerous than they were, for example, Hurricane Opal. Its effects were very destructive even in north east Alabama where we lived, and trees fell all around the house. After getting my mother into bed that night, I listened all night to the news and weather through using a handheld radio and headseat. The wind whistled all around, and I kept feeling that I needed to get my mother to a more central location in the house, but I didn't want to wake her and to bring on the confusion that I knew would accompany such a awakening. I felt that we would probably be up for our night wanderings at some point anyway. But to my surprise, my mother slept like a baby through that whole night of howling winds and falling trees.

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