If you find yourself caring for a client who hoards, you should firstly find out if they suffer from onset dementia as this often triggers the hoarding behaviour.
Hoarding is when a person acquires something and fails to throw things away. You may find that your client never feels comfortable in getting rid of the daily newspaper or saves the envelopes from all the letters.
Another reason for hoarding is that your client may be remembering times when they were younger, and their own parents never threw anything away – just in case they needed it later.
Obsessive hoarding may come from feelings that they may save money from keeping ‘useful’ items. It can also be a fear that their memories will be lost if they get rid of any evidence of the past.
What can we do?
If there is any chance of your client becoming aggressive when you try to throw things away, or even ask them to do this, then you may want to take another path to handle excessive hoarding.
It is a really good idea to create a memory box for a client who hoards. Keep a box for all those things that make up their memories.
You may find that this includes strange things such as hair clips, old pencils, and notepads. All these things may be reminders of special things in their lives, and you may need to turn a blind eye to what goes into this memory box.
If the issue of hoarding means piles of old newspapers around the house you may want to enlist the help of the family. Take your client out while the family tactfully remove the newspapers. Remember that stacks of newspapers are always a fire hazard and should be removed as and when you can.
Final thoughts
It is possible that no amount of discussion with a client suffering from dementia will convince them to throw stuff away and you will need to resort to other means.
You should ask the family to intervene to remove some hoarded stuff which could be a danger to health and safety. Having the family behind you will be beneficial as many clients may argue with the live-in carer but may not do this with family.
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