Creepy dolls at hallowe'en...

One of the treatments which some patients with dementia, particularly women with a strong maternal instinct, can benefit from is doll therapy. It's very simple, you give them a doll, and they think it's a real baby. Of course, it doesn't work with all of the patients, but for some it can be very effective at calming their agitation and making them happy.

But sometimes, it goes a bit too far, which can cause problems (and hilarity) for the carers.

One of the ladies decided to bring her 'baby' to the dinner table with her on a regular basis. Of course, there is no problem with that. However, this was a doll which had a hole in it's mouth, and the lady started to feed her baby. After each meal, we cleaned out the dolls mouth and thought no more of it. After a few weeks of this, and incidentally on hallowe'en, we noticed that the doll wasn't smelling very nice, and on closer inspection, realised that the food had actually been going inside the dolls head, through the hole in it's mouth, and was starting to rot inside the doll. We cleaned it as best we could, but were unable to get a lot of the rotten food out of the doll! So, we had no choice but to take the head off the baby. What a sight it must have been, the two of us carers sitting in the kitchen (after ensuring that the lady in question was nicely tucked up in bed) with a decapitated baby! I will never forget the expression on my supervisor's face when she walked in the kitchen and saw what we'd done! She thought it was a hallowe'en prank to terrify the residents! Luckily, once we explained what had happened, she saw the funny side of the situation, and helped us to reassemble the doll.

Needless to say, the lady in question no longer undergoes doll therapy!

(As an aside, this song was going through my head the whole time...)

In the beginning...

I started working in a care home in September 2011. Having worked there for a few months, I have discovered that there are many interesting and funny anecdotes to be told, and so I have decided to start a blog to share my experiences.

This blog is going to be completely anonymous, to protect both myself and the residents at the care home in which I work. No personal details will be shared at all, and no details of the care home.

The care home in which I work specialises in patients with dementia. The stories come from the point of view of the carer, and are not intended to make fun of or patronise anyone, but shows only the things I have experienced from my point of view.

On to the stories...