Elder-caregivers

But I did want to say a couple of things:

1. I commend you for looking after your grandmother. It's obvious you care deeply about her well-being, and from what you said about her setting up her POA, she obviously recognized how wonderful you are.

2. Distraction is a powerful tool. Although those with dementia can definitely be childLIKE, they lack the potential of children. So discussing, arguing, reasoning, and so forth really don't work. Even if you can get agreement in the moment, their lack of short-term memory makes any real learning nearly impossible. But distraction works, at least in my experience. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, when my mother started asking about when she could "go home" and why my long-deceased father hadn't visited, I quickly pointed to a large bruise on my arm and said, "Mom, look what I did to myself!" Her mothering and nursing skills immediately kicked in, and we were on to another topic. And I'll confess, I've even used "Look, a squirrel!" with varying degrees of success.

Good luck and all the best.