How can we keep my father-in-law from being so lethargic?
You mention that your father-in-law is most content when watching movies. The key to caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is to keep them content and avoid confrontation. Two things that bother me about his movie hobby are the sitting in one place for a long time, and the potential safety issue of his being alone without any supervision. You said you make certain that he gets food. Also he does need hydration and some exercise during his day. I always say it is better to alter the environment and work with the Alzheimer’s patient rather than working against him. And I find medicating him to get him to do something that he does not want to do less than desirable. It seems healthier for him to just allow him to do what he wants and not provoke him so he becomes agitated. I would say that “active and engaged” is not what he wants at this stage of his disease. Instead I would look for some safety device, perhaps one of the new monitoring devices so you know that he is safe. These two are work looking into: http://restassuredsystem.com/ and http://www.quietcaresystems.com/. It would do you and your husband good to find and attend a support group and to read that Mace and Robbins book The 36 Hour Day to better understand the disease. If your FIL had cancer you would not want him to do things that he could not do. Think of this as similar and try and get your husband to understand that Alzheimer’s is a progressive degenerative disease of the mind, and things that may seem better in a logical sense may not be what is in his father’s best interest.
