alzheimer/weighted blanket

[fwd1]

Has anyone used or heard of using a weighted blanket for Alzheimer patient?

 

[silentg]

Yes, I have heard of it but never used one. My mother has dementia, in her first stages, something like this might help. But now she is in a home in final stages, not upset or anxious. I have heard of this for dogs, it does calm them down, my daughter used one for her dog, but now that he is older, does not get anxious like when he was younger.
Ask your doctor about it before making a decision to use it or not.
Silentg

 

[wackymother]

I've heard of it for autism, but not for Alzheimer's.

I have a tip for you, though--the weighted blankets that are made specifically for therapeutic use are very expensive. But packing blankets, those heavy-duty quilted ones, are about the same weight and much less expensive. It would be a way for you to try the blanket without investing a lot of money.

Good luck!

 

[klynn]

Weighted blankets did not work for my Mom who had lewy body dementia. The weighted blankets actually caused her more anxiety.

 

[fwd1]

Thank you for your replies.

 

[JM48]

I have a 12 year old Autistic Grandson. My DD bought him a weighted blanket about 3 years ago. It works great. It cost about $75.00 at the time.
Here is the web site:

http://shop.myweightedblanket.com/

Good luck,
JM

 

[moonstone]

The daughter of an Alzheimer resident at the long term care home where I worked bought one for her mom. The woman had Sundowning pretty bad and the daughter was trying to avoid sedation medication. The poor elderly woman probably weighed about 95 lbs soaking wet & the blanket seemed really heavy to us but we tried it for several nights anyways.

It didn't really have much of an effect and after management looked at it they determined it was close to being a restraint (illegal in Canadian long term care homes) and ordered it removed from the facility. The daughter ended up authorizing sedatives on Dr's advice.

~Diane

 

[gnorth16]

I have a 12 year old Autistic Grandson. My DD bought him a weighted blanket about 3 years ago. It works great. It cost about $75.00 at the time.
Here is the web site:

http://shop.myweightedblanket.com/

Good luck,
JM

+1. We still have one for our son and it works great. I can tell if he's having a bad day as he gravitates back to it, or a maze of 10 other blankets for comfort. Here is a bit more info.

http://www.mosaicweightedblankets.com/alzheimers