#Dementia: How To Stop Them From Hoarding Items

3 Key Dementia Dos and Don'ts - April 22-24 2025 - 7:30pm US Eastern Time each day.

[veronicabrown]

Sometimes I find it's good to say something like "oh! Thanks for bringing out the toilet paper! I was going to restock and I really needed to know how much we had. Do you think we have enough or do you think we need more? In fact, can you help me write a list of all the things we need? Maybe we should go room to room and do a big restock make sure everyone has what they need." I usually hand them a clipboard and pen and write a list with me. We often straighten up as we go. Sometimes they're the best helpers! Notice all the things I would have missed and we somewhere along the line always end up putting the toilet paper away.

[raelol]

I had a resident who would go room to room trying to steal everyone’s pillows and hoard them in her room. Whenever I caught her doing this and asked what she was up to, she’d say “Just grabbing these, I need more pillows”. I’d always tell her “Oh, you just reminded me! I forgot to tell you your family just bought you a brand new one, it’s on your bed”. She’d leave the other people’s pillows and go back to her room to look at her own. It was a custom pillow her family bought with picture of all of them together (a huge body pillow), it wasn’t new, she had it for years, but she never remembered it so every day when I told her this she’d get excited about it all over again and leave everyone else’s pillows alone.

[Lola-tqnv]

Our parents had a large empty basement and offered to store some dishes and keepsakes, following a house fire. This was 15 or so years before official diagnosis. Mom would open the taped-shut storage boxes, take what she wanted and throw away the rest. She tended to keep items of no great value, but would get rid of the sentimental keepsakes. There were a few very special baby clothes & heirloom gifts from extended relatives that belonged to my child. She shipped those to an out of state friend she knew in school. Luckily, the friend figured out who they belonged to, and contacted me. Took a while to realize mom was emptying the storage boxes one by one.😮‍💨

[sleepy.dreamer]

i’m working in a memory care unit currently and we often put boxes of tissues in drawers for the residents to rummage through and hoard. then when they are out of their rooms, we collect them again and return them back to their places. i think we call these ‘rummage drawers.’ i just think it’s nice to give residents things to hoard to keep them engaged with their environment and satisfy their urge to rummage~

[cometasporelcielo]

OMG this is very true. a lot of this comes out of a scarcity mentality. my dad used to take toilet paper from the office because he grew up with barely even enough food.

[germanshepherd]

I work at a group home, these techniques work just as well on people with developmental disabilities

[cassidylynch]

your channel is helping me realize that my great grandmother was showing signs of dementia as early as her 60’s but she wasnt diagnosed until she was 80, she passed away shortly after that, wishing I knew things like this sooner.

[idontcare]

my mom was a food hoarder. My sister, her carer, invited us to "shop" from the pantry. My mom loved shopping for ingredients, but hadn't cooked in years. This was a creative solution. We paid for what we needed, and mom got to shop, and 'plan the meals'. Win, win, win. Mom got out to shop, we got what we would have purchased anyway, and it made for extra visits and more shared meals.

[sacha]

I didn't realise this was a thing associated with dementia! My client at work regularly takes things from other people's rooms and the washing room- it has progressively gotten worse to the point we sometimes have to lock door when the other clients are in the communal room/ work. She's has epilepsy and seems to have dementia-like symptoms.
Sometimes it works to say "oh, I was looking for that!" or "thank you for bringing it!" Definetly doesn't always work and it sometimes we have to collected hands and hands full of stuff from her room. Always a blast seeing her wear men's underwear over her leggings. 😂

[sparklywastaken]

I used to have to put a lady to bed, who firmly believed that she was in MY house babysitting MY children and she was going home to her mum, who was waiting up for her. I used to have to tell her that I had spoken to her mum who had asked if she could stay the night because mum wanted to not wait up and go to bed. This used to placate her almost everytime and she was more than happy to get ready for bed and hop in. I used to feel terrible for lying to her but I only had limited time before having to go to my next person.

[sheilacampbell]

Oh gawd, today at my work an elderly lady was having an episode. I came upon her in the hallway, she is in a wheelchair, I said hello Debbie ( not her name), she says I'm going to the office, I'm going home tomorrow and I want to settle my bill here or they are going to put me in jail! I said Debbie that's not going to happen, she said it again, I got down to her level and said, honey they won't do that and the office is closed for the evening, let's go eat dinner in the dining room and I will take care of it for you tomorrow when the office opens, I had her pretty much calmed down, then 2 CNA came up and started raising their voice to her, telling her she's lived there for 4 months and they sold her house and gave her cat away, poor thing was so upset about her kitty, she's saying he's probably ded because nobody was home to feed him, then they started raising their voice at her again! I was so mad!!
I had to walk away. That was not how that situation should have been handled! I feel like reporting them to admin!

[patriciatoomingtheplantpar]

When I cleaned out my mom's room, I no longer had to wonder where all the shampoo went, gallons and gallons of shampoo

[destinyedwards]

Some time last year I was working in a facility and on of the residents had a fork in his shirt pocket. All day the other nurse aides kept trying to get the fork from him by distracting him and trying to reach in his pocket. At some point I wanted to try. I can’t remember if he had pulled the fork out or what the situation was but I walked up to him and asked if he could give me the fork. He got defensive and said no. I stayed calm and asked if he wanted it cleaned. He said yeah and I told him I could take it can clean it for him. He handed it over and I silently celebrated my little victory. I know something like that won’t always work but it was a nice experience. It’s one of the reasons I love working with Alzheimers and Dementia residents.

[tamikkajohnson]

My mom used QVC and HSN to buy 6 air fryers, le creuset, and tons more. I wish it were TP. Thousands of dollars in hoarding brand-new items that we ultimately donated.

[Project-X-]

Getting into their headspace, sharing in it & 'enjoying' the journey through their wonderland, is a special key in helping them back to the real world.
When my grandma was in bed, in her bedroom, she told me to "look at the lights", I asked what lights, she went on to tell me she was in the city, in the evening.
I told her we would catch a tram & then train and bus to home (this was her weekly routine when she was younger & when I was a kid). I didn't wait for her response but rather, I took her hand & told her to mind her step into the tram and 'pointed out a few landmarks' (I remembered from the trip home as a kid). I touched her hand alot, letting her know I was definitely on the journey with her. I let her know we arrived home safely and we'll have a cup of tea when we get settled.
I put my arm under her & held her back back, as I helped her lay 'back into bed' then slipped my arm out & comforted her saying "what a big journey that was, I'm glad we're home. We can rest now".
This took all of about 5 minutes.
Saved a whole lot of unnecessary back n forth.
Another time my patient in a nursing home could see horses out his window saying they're out of the paddock! I told him to wait there while I go round them up & get them back in. I dashed out the door, stood just outside his door for about 2 minutes, then walked in pretending to huff n puff & told him I was sorry it took so long, it was a big job but we got them all in...I told him to look out the window to see the horses were in their paddock & he looked up & smiled. I couldn't tell if he thought I was nuts, for saying there was a paddock of horses out there when there clearly wasn't, or he had just fooled me in playing a silly game. Either way, it stopped his yelling and the nursing home was peaceful again.
Please, learn as much as you can from the old folk around you, about their lives and their best memories...this will help immensely, when they are regressing or panicking and need comfort.
God bless the carers in the world. May God give you perfect carers in return for your love & patience.
Jen. Australia.
💕🙏🏻🕊️💕

[yashira]

Thank you so much for these videos. I just recently resigned from my job to take care of my MIL.. FIL recently passed.
She takes toilet paper like it’s gold. I have learned to put it all in my room ands restock as needed. I’m understanding more now. Redirecting her to other things helps so much!!

[daniellereid]

My bf's Nana has refused to put toilet paper in his bathroom and even counts the rolls she hides in her closet. One time, she wasn't home and we were out of toilet paper, so I went in there, took one, but made sure the pile looked the exact same.
She came home and immediately asked who took toilet paper from her bathroom and told us to buy our own.

[lrajic]

I had a work colleague hide and/lock up the toilet paper, liquid hand soap, and paper towels, in the only restroom of the office. She was about 45. Heard that dementia can start early.

So I confronted her, that it was company funded and we all needed access to these. She said she has to lock it up because of theft or waste, and nothing stated in the handbook said we must share. The supervisor was not interested in stopping this weirdness. Ordered more to etc, she still hoarded it.

So I brought in some with my own funds, and she’ll hoard it. Finally, brought in my own, kept it in a shopping bag, took it to my car when I wasn’t there to protect it.

My family does has this weird hoarding happening. But with candy and cookies as well. As I said, dementia can start before in middle age.

[valscott]

My mom tears each individual square of toilet paper off the roll and makes stacks of them. Never uses them.

[bethglaub]

Well for me it was easier to lock it up. No arguments, no Behaviors . easier life for us both.❤