Dementia Day Cycle Day Clock

I HIGHLY recommend this clock. I'm the main caretaker for my 87 year old grandfather, he has a slight case of dementia. He lives alone in a senior citizen building but he's fairly independent, he's able to cook for himself, dress himself, and still go shopping at nearby stores. But I visit him weekly to help with different things. But for months he'd constantly forget what day of the week it was. He'd go all the way to the bank on a Sunday to find it closed, because he thought it was Monday. He did things like this all the time. Plus a huge problem he'd have was thinking it was morning, when it was really night. I went to visit him once around at 7pm and he was asleep when I arrived, he immediately started cooking "breakfast" and was about to take a shower because he thought it was the morning time. Things like this happened repeatedly. For some reason it seems that people with dementia lose their ability to separate night from day, they think if its "dark" outside that its early morning (before sunrise) instead of night time. I googled "clocks that tell days of week" and saw this Dementia Day Clock by GeriGuard and I hesitated to buy it because it was expensive (at least for me). But when my grand dad literally kept thinking it was Monday when it was Saturday, kept asking me what day of the week it was every time I called him, and he kept leaving his apartment at the wrong hours I told myself I had to get this clock because it was a matter of safety. Believe me this clock has been a life saver, its the best $100 we ever spent. I visit him frequently and he NO LONGER is confused on whether its morning or night, and he's NO LONGER confused about what day of the week it is, or whether its morning or night. He's more stable & this keeps him more independant. He LOVES this clock. It's a beautiful clock, it looks very stylish, the letters are large & easy to read. It sits on his dresser so its the FIRST thing he sees when he wakes up. He starts his day knowing what day of the week it is---and when he takes a nap he can look at this clock so he knows its still night time, not the morning. He no longer leaves the house at the wrong hours. The clock was also easy to set up, I believe it was already set up when it arrived; the only thing I changed was that I made the "evening" hour last only between 5pm to 6pm (a short while), so he could have the basic "morning" "afternoon" and "night" words, so its less confusion. Also, I plugged it in at my house for 1 day to make sure it worked properly, and made sure it switched from morning to noon, then night---and after I saw it was working great I took it his apartment.This clock is great. PLEASE get this clock if you have an elderly relative who repeatedly asks you what day it is, and you see them getting confused whether its morning or night. I have a tight budget so I was very hesitant to spend the money--believe me its the best $100 ever spent on my grand dad.

This largely does exactly what it says and looks like. That is good. I found one logical glitch in the programming. The timing of day, and of part of the day (morning, afternoon, evening, night), are independently set. Here is what I noticed, As shipped, the day changes at midnight, which makes perfect sense. But the part of the day is on a different setting, such that at 1 minute after midnight on the next day, it still says night. Example: at 1159 pm on, say, Friday night, it reads correctly 'Friday night'. But at 1201 am, two minutes later, it will be reading Saturday night. The day shifted correctly at midnight but the part of day did not shift. Saying Saturday night at 1201 am on Saturday is going to be confusing to the likely audience. No one refers to early on a Saturday as Saturday night. It is possible to reset the 'part of day' such that in the example above at 1201 am it would read Saturday morning. That is not ideal, but is better than reading Saturday night at that time. I have already gotten a call at 2am from the person for whom I got this, asking why the clock reads morning but it is dark outside. So there is an unsolved glitch in the logic, but a passable option can be set on the clock.

This "clock" is the missing link in dealing with problems related to not knowing what "part" of the day it is. For those who have been confused, even briefly, by which 7 o'clock is it ? Now breakfast...or dinner...? The Dementia Day Cycle Day Clock answers the question quietly and without emotion. It is an adjunct to the "tool kit" used by caregivers for those with "memory problems". Whether it's Dementia, or Alzheimer's, or trauma that causes the confusion doesn't matter. Nor does it matter whether you are the caregiver or the patient, this clock provides the answer without having to look for the AM/PM dots and make the appropriate connection to daily routine.This device is not perfect. It is what it is. Some want it bigger/smaller; brighter/dimmer, more or less information, cheaper, more PC packaging...and on and on. It is not one size fits all. But darned near.For help in solving "time problems" we have the Dynamic Living Oversized 16-inch X 7.5-inch Digital Led Calendar Wall Clock and Medcenter Talking Alarm Clock & Medication Reminder. They too are not perfect solutions, but do what they do remarkably well. Now, with the Dementia clock, we have many of our time problems resolved unemotionally. Questions do arise still. For instance: The clock as delivered displayed night from 10PM to 7AM. It seemed awkward to get our minds to adjust to 6AM as "night" (from the day before) with the sun up and birds singing. So we followed the included directions and changed our clock to shift at 0000 to morning. Now when we look at our BIG Calendar wall clock the days match. No more 6AM "Friday night" but is Saturday morning. One less mental adjustment needed to get through the day. Others may want to make different solutions, buy it do it - but please don't tell others your way is "better".When we were shopping for this clock we saw reviewers had questions about changing the display; and asking for more current instructions from the seller. We requested by email copy of the updated instructions and promptly received not one but two responses from the company, rare concern. We ordered.In our new world of canes, walkers, bibs, bed pads, pills, glasses, TV ears, doctors, handicap tags, Medicare, "I can't remember" etc. this little item fits perfectly.