My 90 yo MIL with moderate dementia has begun watching news programs non-stop. She has somewhat limited abily to understand what she's watching and regularly watches old programs while believing it's current news.
It's a fairly recent behavior, and I'm unsure what's happening. Any thoughts?
I think it is the comfort of the repetition.
You can record anything and have it replay and it will do the same thing.
(I recorded ball games to play for my Husband when there was no game on and he would watch it like it was the first time..and in a way I guess it was)
OR
If it does not bother you and it does not upset her let it go and let her watch. If it bothers you or upsets her find another thing for her to watch that will be more pleasant.
pm(she needs it to fall asleep)
hallmark Xmas movie channel was perfect. All day long- happy & cheerful, beautiful scenery and easy to follow (repetitive) plots
now that channel has hallmark romance, mysteries and then The Golden Girls
I wholeheartedly recommend ending the murder/rape/serial killer stuff.
For my elderly Aunt with advanced dementia (who recently passed) i bought her a whole bunch of old-time musicals (DVDs) with happy endings and little to no frightening or disturbing content. Many were Pixar and Disney movies. She watched with the captions on and would read the entire movie, even though she couldn't really follow the plot, she was happy in the moment. Kept her busy for hours since she physically and mentally couldn't do anything else and was becoming very angry and negative from her dementia.
I tried to get him interested in the old movies on Turner Classic Movies, but he was more interested with keeping up-to-date with the news. Plus the news reminded him what day of the week, and the calendar date.
It’s annoying for you but it is habitual for her.
Have you tried suggesting another program for her to watch?
We actually had a great chorus. This nun had diverse taste in music and we knew all of the popular musicals, all patriotic songs, etc.
No hymns! I guess she thought those songs were to be sung in Mass. She was a great music teacher.