Mom, in her mid-80s, had a stroke in early April. We are caring for her at our family home with Dad, who is in his early 90s. Dad is a fall risk (~twice per week) as his knees do not bend, and he has some cognitive decline. Dad is mostly self-sufficient (he spends his days reading the newspapers, gardening and mowing - we do cook supper for him), but he is not able to care for Mom, so we have hired caregivers for Mom, 24/7, except the weekends. My 4 sisters and I rotate coming home to care for Mom & Dad over the weekends. Of all of this, the worst part is that Mom cannot speak. (She can sing a little bit, but it is a fleeting activity - we cannot communicate with her. She does not even nod or shake her head reliably.) We take her outside in her wheelchair, but its starting to get cold outside. It is difficult to take her out in the car, as what to do if she needs a toilet? (With great persistence, we have been able to learn to understand - most of the time - which glare means "I need to use the toilet".) Mom is likely depressed, does not sleep well at night, and is always trying to get out of bed. One day, she will fall out. Even though she came home fully paralyzed on her right side, she has regained some mobility. She can (sort of) walk if you hold securely onto her. We believe that she thinks that she has no mobility issues, and can walk and do anything she wants. Mom has a feeding tube, and by mouth can only have liquids. She has an obstruction in her esophagus where solid food lodges and gets backed-up. The 2nd worst problem with Mom is her anger. She can turn on a dime, and puffs at whomever she is angry with. She punches, kicks, and pinches. She seems downright evil at these times, and there is no way to help her. She will not listen to reason, and we usually just end up walking away until she cools down. Sometimes, she doesn't cool down for a long time. Mom does like to listen to music, unless she picks up on the fact that you are trying to pacify her. She will "watch" TV, but mostly seems disinterested. She was an avid gardener and baker in her previous healthy life.
You can play the card game War with her. I played that with my late husband who also had a massive stroke and was unable to speak much, but still knew which card was higher.
And your mom more than likely can still sing a lot as singing comes from a different part of the brain than speech.
My husband after his stroke couldn't say one word, yet when the speech therapist came in she said that she wanted him to sing the song Happy Birthday with her and he sang every single word.
So try playing her favorite songs from her younger years and you will be pleasantly surprised as she sings right along with them.
And you can just sit with her and go through old photo albums and reminisce with her.
And if she is like my husband as time went by he really just preferred to sit in his chair and watch his TV shows. He would have been very mad at me if I would have tried to entertain him 24/7.
So let her direct with her reactions as to what and if you do anything at all with her.
Best wishes.
As for activities maybe you could setup a little in house garden for her to tend to. Like some herbs or flowers in small pots and she can sit at the table and plant them and water them? Bake with her when you visit? Let her direct where it goes and if she seems interested great and if she isn't then that's OK too.
You are also hiring 24 hour carers for the weekdays. Who is paying? It’s very expensive. If it’s the parents’ money, is the money going to run out? What happens then? If you and your sisters are paying, are you prepared for this to last another 10 years? And how do you manage if a carer doesn’t turn up? Three shifts a day, five days a week, means that perfect reliability is a big ask.
I fully understand that this is not what you are asking. But perhaps you are finally posting because it’s becoming a strain for you all. If so, it might be better to look at the big picture, rather than just ideas for small improvements.