I went to the nursing home last night and sat with an 84 yo man sitting in a chair by himself, and he was crying. I knelt down and asked him “what’s wrong Daryl?”.. He said “I can’t stop shaking and I don’t know what to do?”. His hands were really trembling ( a bit like Parkinson’s) and he was concerned.
I then remembered my ‘Teepa Grip’ ( refer pic) and I just held one of his hands and gave him firm palm pressure from me. I rubbed the top of his hand ( with my other hand) to create some warmth and re-assured him verbally everything will be ok.
Blow me down …Two minutes later… He stopped shaking!!!… He calmed down and started bantering with me.
Seriously, the more I interact with people the more I believe that ‘reassurance’ could be the best medicine moreso than anything else.
Another lesson in ‘natural’ dementia care from the nursing home …magic!
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