Hi, Does anyone have any ideas about how to divert the attention of a late stage Alzheimer’s patient whose behaviour is chanting one or two nonsense phrases over and over, very loudly? It is now almost constant – when he is toileted (Maxi-lift), or moved at all, when it appears that he needs to have a BM, when he is uncomfortable, has pain, etc. etc. Since he cannot talk, it is probably his way of communicating that he has a problem, but after checking everything, the chanting continues for the good part of a day.
This started about two months ago. We have had help from behavioural specialists, and that really helped. I still practice the gentle touch, the music, foot massages, and other tactics – at first I would whisper in his ear that I needed his help, or some thing to divert his attention, but now that almost never works. Sometimes when he’s ‘chanting’, I sing a lullaby softly in his ear – sometimes it works, sometimes not. He seems to be so deep within now, I’m floundering and looking for other ideas. Has anyone experienced this type of problem, and if so, would you mind sharing your experience/solution? Thanks, Margaret.
I don't know very much about this except that there was a resident in my husband's ALF who did this. It was in a rather high-pitched monotone and would go on for hours. It seemed that it might have been related to her stress - when her husband came in she often calmed down and then got worse when he left. It is most likely disease insult to a part of the brain that controls this behavior and as far as I could tell it did not respond to medication.
Your work with behavior specialists is admirable and you may be controlling a lot more of this chanting behavior than you will ever know.
It is sad. I understand how distressing it must be for you because I saw how agonizing it was for the husband to deal with and he loved his wife dearly. I hope someone else on this thread can come up with some helpful strategies for you.
My husband chanted the same phrases over and over again until I thought I would lose my mind. I didn't associate the chanting with anything in particular that was happening in his daily routine. This practice began shortly after his verbal skills declined. I never tried to stop him from the chanting - so I do not have any suggestions as to what might help you - sorry. It lasted approximately a year and then stopped. After it stopped, noise of any kind seemed to bother him. He went from one strange behavior to another all through his journey. Good luck - I hope it stops soon.
In the nursing home there was a lady that yelled help none stop until they fitted her with some comfy headphones and an iPod with music. She calmed right down and sometimes sang out loud along with the songs but not in an annoying loud fashion like the yelling. It might be worth a trial.
Marche, the chanting (Ihre Ihre Aye/Aye, Ihre Aye/Aye Aye Aye, is so monotonous, and if it gets louder, after a while your ears hurt, and your head feels almost numb; and if you are with him in a closed room much of the day, you wonder how he can be safe with anyone other than someone who loves them … sometimes we have to make light of it :) That, combined with being unable to find ways/things to lighten the time, make for some difficult days. It must be so terrible to be in their bodies.
About the gentle touch time … I found that if I tilt his chair to a semi-reclining position, and sit in a chair almost behind him, I can gently stroke his forehead with one hand, and his shoulders and chest with the other, while listening to music. This has been, up until now, very effective, and he relaxes and sometimes goes to sleep. A bonus for me is that we are facing a wall with photos of him and his Mom, a photo when he was a cute blonde 2 year old, when he was in the service, photos of us on our honeymoon, etc. While I am gently touching, I see the memories, and in spite of everything, I feel his spirit is inside him somewhere.
The staff say he’s generally not so loud when I am there (except mostly for transfers to and from the toilet in the maxi lift). I don’t interfere in that process, but once he’s on the toilet I stay with him, and they can do other jobs until it’s time to transfer him back to his chair or bed again… it takes a while. I ask if his bottom is ok, and ask to see it periodically, along with the lower part of his spine where the skin is broken, but which they keep clean and covered with a ’second skin’. They understand my concern for his welfare.
Moon, you DO know what I mean – I’ve tried to keep things as reasonable as I can because there are the other residents to consider. Generally now, we keep his door closed, but previously we had it open. Also, he has many other health problems … neuropathy, back pain, stomach pain. So hard to try to interpret the behaviours.
Jules, unfortunately my husband can’t talk (or sing :) but we have MP3s with earphones that he’s quite comfortable with, and if he’s not listening to that, we have a CD player going. We have lots of music – Swiss, 50s, 60s and 70s songs and instrumentals that he liked. These days it usually takes a tsp of honey-textured juice to get him to stop singing. I hold the plastic spoon in his mouth for about a minute, in order to break the cycle of chanting. Usually in the morning this works, and I wheel him down to the dining room for lunch. Mostly, with the music, he’s quiet, and just opens his mouth to be fed. If he gets noisy, I grab the juice and wheel him out, get him settled down again, and we return for lunch. Same with dinner. It is hard to envision the world without music.
I have tried the Snoozelen Room a few times with him when it is available. The music seemed to ‘get’ to him in a restful way after a while.
Foot massages at bedtime seem to be good too.
Sometimes singing a lullaby in his ear when he’s in the ‘zone’ works.
Just have to keep trying. And I just hope things aren’t going to get more difficult.
Last week we met with the psychiatrist; after studying him during one of his usual episodes – chanting, staring, oblivious, that his manner was pleasant, not aggressive or abusive, but that he had lost the ability to reason, think or control his impulse, (there was a term for this, but at the moment I can’t think of it) and had probably regressed to about age 2.
I arrived at the NH at 11:10 a.m. this morning, and he was sitting in his wheelchair, staring into space chanting. Fortunately the level was moderate, and they left his door open because it was doctor’s day. The doctor looked in, was pleased that he wasn’t teary and hysterical, as previously, and said … ‘he’s calm and singing, that’s good. This is a NH, and what I am seeing is acceptable. (She’s a very caring doctor, for which I am SO grateful.) Her view was for a small period of time.
I didn’t mean to make this so long, but thanks sincerely for your help. Margaret
Hi, I didn't even have a name for this "chanting", thank you. Due to lack of speech sometimes animal sounds repeated, or just sounds or noises, which my DH actually derives some pleasure from. Thankful its not too loud. Glad to see how many of you use music. My DH was a musician and a friend of his put 1000 of his cd collection songs on an MP3 player. It is a godsend. You can put in on shuffle so the songs vary. He too sings along with it. Music (and art) doesn't reside in the memory part of the brain, and really provides some quality of life. With him it reduces agitation, improves behavior too.
Hi mariposa, I'm have to find out what shuffle is. My husband played clarinet when he was young and in a youth band. He loved to play though, and after he retired, he and a friend who played trumpet got together each week and really enjoyed playing together. At the NH there is an elderly Italian man whose wife has alzheimer's - has been there for 4 years. She's quiet, never smiles (except at him she lights up), and he comes faithfully before lunch and dinner to wheel her around, feed her, etc. He looks like a little saint, with a beautiful smile, and stories about 'she was the best wife'. He played trumpet in his earlier years, I think, professionally. We all have so much in common. All the best.
An MP3 player can play each album, or vary the songs - that is the "shuffle" selection, so songs play randomly.Its a setting on the MP3 stereo dock. The one we got is made by Sony and plays CD's, the MP3 player, or radio. All the best to all!