Client has dementia..? Keep working for her?

So the client I work for she is amazing in a million ways.. she’s such a go getter dreamer etc.. and now best selling author of a best selling book... but here’s the thing.. she has dementia..like I don’t mean it in a joking way - I know is a serious subject.. my own grandmother passed away for Alz.. and to be honest I am not a doctor,. But this client I work with.. she sometimes sincerely doesn’t know up from down, she can’t read her schedule updates, she forgets which day is what, forgets things she said the day before that were on a totally different track now she wants to go the opposite direction with the work we do.. it’s getting really confusing and often seems like we back peddle. She pays really well but i always have this feeling she’s going to flip out and fire us at any week because she talks about stopping services then the next day says she has a whole years worth of work for us with examples of the work ideas and everything .. she takes up 75% of my time, and I find myself very short on time to look for other clients and then find myself worrying about getting fired.. getting confused myself about the work ahead of us.. we are talking like 10s of thousands of dollars in work.. at such a loss as to what to do... just a hard situation.. any ideas ? And crazy client stories you could share ? Do you just what.. find a bigger client and say you don’t gave the bandwidth for her work? Or find a way to separate yourself or stop worrying ?

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4meAndyou · F

I worked with patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, and it can be very confusing. Your client has lost a LOT of brain cells, so she is not quite herself anymore, and it will get progressively worse.

You might wish to have a consult with an elder affairs lawyer or social services person and ask the best way to handle it. Consults are free. Your client needs to have a responsible person like a trusted lawyer or family member with a power of attorney to direct her affairs and at this point she probably doesn't know she is becoming incompetent very rapidly. People with dementia can live anywhere from 2-5 years, and they deteriorate during that time.

I still remember that when I was learning the in's and out's of the seeming madness of brain damaged patients, my patient directed me to buy bread, and chicken, and quite a few other things, and bring them to his house, because his sister was staying there. I was also told to collect his mail.

I did all of those things, only to discover that the sister staying there was a complete fantasy, and the door to the house was locked. All I could do was bring the food to the rehab where he was staying and leave it in the freezer. I delivered his mail to him, but that caused a lot of trouble, because he had a court date of which he was being notified, and he could not attend. Apparently his lawyer was handling it.

If this woman's family is not aware that she suffers from dementia and you ARE aware of it, you are obligated to let them know, even if you have to go behind this woman's back to get those phone numbers. It could mean legal trouble for you down the road otherwise. This woman's family might not wish to pay you a lot of money, because they might consider that it is needed for her long term care.