Dementia Care Case Study: Mary Rose

Mary Rose has been living at an assisted-living home for more than a year.  Mary Rose lived on her own for years after her husband Tom's death, but in the last five years, her grown daughter, Betty, has noticed Mom's slipping memory and increased agitation.  Mary Rose lived with Betty and her family for a few years, but then they moved her to the assisted-living facility for additional support.  Betty visits her mother several times each week, but the visits are more and more challenging for her.  At times Mary Rose is unresponsive, or seems to not recognize her daughter, or even exhibits displeasure at seeing her.  Betty doesn't know how to talk to her mom and becomes sad over her mental and physical decline.  Mary Rose's doctors and care team at the assisted-living center believe her decline is rapid and that her dementia has advanced to a terminal status, so three months ago she was referred to and admitted to Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region.  On her last visit, Martha, Mary Rose's nurse, played a CD of beach music from the 40s on her laptop, as she always does when visiting Mary Rose.  While taking Mary Rose's vital signs, Martha asks her if she remembers dancing with Tom to this song when they were courting.  A few times, Mary Rose has hummed along, and once, she even mentioned dancing to a particular song at her wedding.  Betty was thrilled when Martha told her this!  Betty has begun playing beach music CDs while she visits her mother, and, like Martha does, she asks Mary Rose questions about her parents, her brothers, and her early years of marriage.  When Mary Rose's hospice social worker, Jackie, visits, she shows Betty how to incorporate items from the Dementia Care Kit, such as using lavender lotion on Mary Rose's hands, giving her silky fabrics to hold, and passing a squishy bean bag back and forth. 

Thanks to Mary Rose's hospice team's training as part of the dementia care at Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region, Betty is learning how to calm her mother and how to communicate with her in ways that Mary Rose can understand.  She no longer flinches when Mary Rose calls her by her sister's name, and, thanks to the hospice care, she knows that Mary Rose is not in as much pain as she was before.  Next week, when Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region holds training for the assisted-living center's staff, Betty and Mary Rose are going to demonstrate the techniques for them.  Betty doesn't know for sure, but based on the twinkle she sees in her mom's eyes when she mentions it, Betty thinks that Mary Rose is looking forward to the training, too.