My 97 year old mom has mid stage dementia and is in memory care at a very nice facility. She wants to go home to help HER mother take care of HER babies and packs her clothes that hang in her closet with sliding doors everyday and/or night. The doors are wood with just an inset knob to push back and pull forward so there is nothing to attach a keyed lock. The facility uses hook and eye latches to secure the closets which I replaced with a hook with a spring on it. Mom figured out how to unhook the latch so that idea was a bust. It has been months of myself and the associates sorting her clean from dirty laundry to dress her daily. Recently I put a footlocker in her room with a lock and provided the staff with the key. I was informed the trunk was a safety hazard sitting against a wall so they placed it inside the closet which is a little bit too narrow. Her clothes are locked in the trunk but it's awkard for the associates to assist her to dress and for me to replace clean laundry. Mom still packs any items not in the trunk in her laundry basket and seat to her rollator (ie. bathtowels coat, doll clothes, books, etc). Has anyone else experienced this and found a better solution? I would like to be able to hang mom's clothes back inside the closet but she cannot access them. Thanks for any suggestions!
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https://www.amazon.ca/Sliding-Door-Closets-Windows-White/dp/B00WTBMSR6
I am afraid if you were to lock the sliding closet doors, Mom may start banging and kicking the door thus distributing the other residents.
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I wonder what she will do with her time instead?
I understand your wanting it to stop.
What happened when you first installed the latch that she ultimately was able to open?
Did she just spend all her time trying to get it opened or was it out of sight, out of mind?
Let us know how it goes.
Get one from Home Depot.
A more invasive security measure (needing authorisation) is to drill a hole through both doors when closed (again, the higher the better) and insert a pin or dowel which can be effortlessly removed. If it is the same colour as the door, it will be harder to detect also.