My wife becomes fixated on a subject to the peril of all involved.

See if any of the Assisted livings in your area have Seminars. I worked as a secretary for Visiting nurses and we would go to these seminars. Call Office of Aging and see if anything like this is offered, maybe by the Health Dept. Caring for someone with Dementia is no fun and it takes patience and understanding on how it works. Me, I had my RN daughter who worked in NH. When Mom became paranoid, I called my daughter and she calmed her down.

Try not to allow wife to watch the news. It can become very disturbing. Keep conversations simple. Maybe don't tell Mom your looking for a job.

Your wife's behavior may be helped by medication. It is something to discuss with her MD. And some mild medications may be an answer. But if the family educates themselves they will know more what to expect with dementia, and this is one of the most common presentations. There are all sorts of "little tricks" for diversion that may work or may result in angry outbursts--anyone's guess on any given day. This is a part of the disease process. Not something she can control. Your best bet is to get as fully informed as you can.

I recommend watching a whole lot of short videos by Teepa Snow. They will help you have some idea of how this mind is working, and how to work with it.
At some point the kids must learn to do a short: "Oh, oh, gotta go, Mom. Love you! Talk later" and click off the phone. The time she will be making calls is limited.

It's lovely she cares about things & her youngest daughter's job hunt.

Fixated is a good word to describe this behaviour.

If your wife cannot self regulate these fixations, then she may need supervision & help to distract & move onto another task. I'm sure as the primary caregiver you have enough to do without adding to your workload :(

I wouldn't want to remove your wife's ability to communicate by text.. but then.. I guess you will have to work out if this is an area you want to 'police' or not?

A while back I was receiving daily calls from my parent asking exactly what I had for lunch. I did ask my other parent to stop these texts too but in the end I didn't want to add to their stress by having to 'police', so I just stopped replying.

I agree with lealonnie1 that meds may be helpful. Also, maybe consider a companion aid for her to distract and redirect her.

This OCD type of behavior is common with Alzheimer's and dementia, unfortunately. There's nothing you yourself can do to "manage" it, really. Your daughter can block her mom on her phone so she's not bombarded with distracting texts all day. Because no amount of reasoning or logic will get through to her. You can speak with your wife's doctor or neurologist about this behavior as medication may be available to curb her anxiety/OCD a bit. Ativan worked well for my mother. Distraction works for a while until they find another topic to dwell on. Nature of the beast.

I suggest you pick up a copy of Understanding the Dementia Experience by Jennifer Ghent-Fuller on Amazon so you can learn about dementia and how to deal with the whole situation. Lots of Do's and Don'ts are discussed in the book and tips for managing the various behaviors. Family therapy (without your wife) may be beneficial for your children as well.

Alz.org online is a great resource as well.

Wishing you the best of luck with a difficult situation.

Your kids can learn to block her calls texts and emails at certain times of the day. They shouldn’t feel obligated to receive these things.