hobbies for hand issues?

JennieR

Hi everyone. I'm seeking ideas for hobbies I can suggest to my mum in law, who has osteoarthritis in her hands and spine, meaning she has very limited movement.

She is currently trying to keep up her old hobby, pottery. However (she also has early alzheimers) she keeps forgetting that her hands don't work and getting upset over fails, or taking on pottery commissions she then can't complete. She lives a long way from us and though we call daily, we can't stop her beetling off to places, since she's forgotten that she struggles when she gets there/struggles to get home/promised us she'd quit!

We are trying to persuade her to give up pottery (it's quite a dangerous-equipment, isolated place she rents to do it, apart from anything). But she is very energetic and not the sort of lady to sit and watch TV, so we're trying to think of an alternative hobby that she can do (1) with very limited hands and (2) with limited memory. Everything we can think of seems to require hands, memory or both! I wondered if the community had ideas about hobbies for people with osteoarthritis in hands? - some might be suitable for her level of memory.

many thanks in advance for any crowd wisdom that comes back!

Jennie

ToneBlues

Hi @JennieR

Thank you very much for contacting the online forum, and welcome.

You are asking for help with ideas for hobbies/pastimes for your mum-in-law who has osteoarthritis (OA) of the hands and spine, and is affected by early Alzheimer's disease. These two conditions are limiting her ability to be able to make pottery effectively and safely, and you are looking for suggestions for alternative activities you can suggest to her.

This is clearly a challenging situation both for you and your mum-in-law, not least because she doesn't live near you.

I've found the following story concerning Jane on the Versus Arthritis website. Jane has both OA and Alzheimer's and was seeking ways to remain active and engaged in life - there is more about her story here on the Alzheimer's Society website.

Both osteoarthritis and Alzheimer's are very variable conditions and have very different impacts on differing people's lives - our members may well be able to make excellent suggestions for alternative hobbies.

• Does your mum-in-law engage in other activities already - gardening, other craft work, singing etc - that she could expand to replace pottery?
• Could she engage in differing forms pottery - hand-building, coil pots, pinch pots etc - that don't involve her using a potters wheel (which I suspect may be amongst your safety concerns)?
• Is there a local pottery club or class where she could still pot, but with support and supervision?
• Has your mum-in-law received any advice and support from occupational therapists local to her home, and is there a local branch of the Alzheimer's Society (or a related charity) from which she could get more direct support?

More questions than answers - but I hope that they will give you food for thought and help in your search for a solution to a tricky problem.

Thank you very much for asking for the help of our online community - I hope our members will be able to make creative and realistic suggestions.

Very best wishes

@ToneBlues (moderator)