Shaggy -  Frangipanis are beautiful flowers. I have a small Pink one which has struggled to flower this year.  I think those 40c days were not the best. Your right about a lot of patients rarely seeing visitors. My Father was in a nursing home and the man in the bed opposite him never had a visitor. I used to talk with him and he showed me drawings he did, as he was a stained glass window maker. They were beautiful. When his health became worse and he eventually passed away, the son came wanting to know what had happened to his belongings. They make me sick these people. Only turn up to see what they can get out of the estate.

Totally agree re greedy relatives Hola.   Know all about that.   I am so pleased that elder abuse is gaining more traction now and steps are in place to protect the vulnerable from greedy children, relatives and those who supposedly befriend an elderly person to get access to their assets.   I mean some so called charitable organisations...have had first hand experience of this.

Solicitors and banks are now on the lookout for this now and I read recently where a mother and daughter turned up at a solicitor's office with the mother there supposedly to change her will and leave one daughter out of it.   Female solicitor became suspicious and managed to get the daughter out of the office for a few minutes and was able to talk to the mother on her own.  It became obvious that the mother had dementia or whatever and the change of will did not go ahead.  

More attention has to be taken by those in power so that if they suspect something is going on re financial abuse of an elderly person that steps are taken to stop it.

Please be aware of this:

Sending flowers to dementia patients in a high care facility is not recommended or encouraged. If a patient is “room bound” the flowers are put in the common room for all to enjoy. Flowering plants can lure people with dementia to them and unfortunately it’s not uncommon for cognitively impaired people to rip off a leaf or bloom and eat it..and the consequences can be lethal. Besides advanced dementia patients have no idea what “Mother’s Day” means. It’s far better if one has the time to actually visit the patient and be with them when they enjoy the flowers..even take part in flower arranging with them if flowers are what you want to offer. Flower arranging is simple and provides cognitive and sensory stimulation and can help preserve motor skills, and provide a feeling of accomplishment.

A good  point is not to leave a dementia patient alone with flowers once they have been “arranged”..and also sensible to check with the nursery which flowers are poisonous..

Music has been known to get through to dementia patients and provide a lot of joy..a gift of a musical CD or video is a great idea

Source: National Dementia Australia

            My own personal experience in planning activities for dementia patients.

Hi Kiah, When I had my heart surgery one of my friends came to visit me with a beautiful bunch of pink and white carnations. The nurses told her they were not allowed in my room and she would have to take them home. I felt so sorry for her as they would have cost a pretty packet. She was so annoyed and said to them, there should have been a sign to say, "No flowers to be Left with Patients". Maybe it would be better to leave artifical flowers with the dementia patients, and as you say music would be good for them. I saw a piece about a old dementia man. He hadn't spoken for ages, but when he heard the music to one of his favourite songs, he immediately started to sing along. The smile on his face was priceless.

Well Rosret, at least the council contacted you about what was happening in your neighbourhood. Where we live, buildings are erected without any contact with those living alongside the block. When we contacted our council about a loss of privacy and sunlight we were told that the zoning allowed for the work. We were also told that the process of dealing with complaints about building works was, in the main, vindictive with no basis in law.