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MIL, 85 late mid stage Alzheimers, is in the Memory Unit at a beautiful Assisted Living. She seems very happy there and seems to have adjusted very well. There are 11 other people on the unit and it is a locked unit. There is a day ratio of 3:1 staff, evening staff of 2:6. They go on "field trips" twice a week and are very busy with games and activities the other 5 days of the week (no weekend field trips). They have a rest time after lunch for about an hour where the other resident rest and nap. She does not rest at ALL.. A lot of the residents keep their apartment doors open during this time. The activity director will have MIL sit in front of her office clipping coupons, doing puzzles, etc. After about 5 minutes she is bored and will get up from the table and walk around the unit. If the Aids or the Director take their eyes off her for even a moment she bolt, literally bolts for another residents room on the pretext of "checking on them". She "checks" on a different resident every day. Except she doesn't check on them at all, she raids their refrigerators or goes into their bedrooms and shakes them.

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I'm kinda with countrymouse. If MIL is on a locked unit that specializes in people with dementia I would think there would be provisions in place to prevent your MIL from wandering around in and out of other people's apartments. This Assisted Living place needs to step up their game before your MIL gets in trouble.
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If a NH director told me this about my relative, I would say "So?" It isn't up to you to do anything. Will she go in a closed door? Maybe they all need to close their doors. The home is probably hoping that you hire an aid for her. But, I can't imagine that "everyone" lays down, except this one woman.

I think that I would just smile and nod and say that I am sorry.
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Victoria, isn't that why she is in a locked Memory Unit? So that people with expertise and the right facilities can take really good care of her?

I'm not sure what you think you can contribute, or why you need to? Is the Unit threatening to exclude her, or anything like that?

The only thing I can think of - and this would depend so much on your being available - is organising a daily visit so that you can cover the rest period and do the distracting of her yourself. But that would be a heck of a commitment. I'd have thought it was within the remit of the unit to come up with better solutions, themselves.
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