My mother constantly rummages through her belongings and leaves things all over her floor. It's a fall risk. How do I address this behavior?

Sounds like she needs constant supervision during her waking hours.

I agree with Beatty -- sounds like she needs constant supervision.

Are you able (willing?) to provide this?

From your profile: "Newly retired to take care of divorced parents. Mom lives in my home. Dad just diagnosed with lung cancer and his wife is recovering from a fractured femur and is diabetic. All three rely on me quite a bit."

So you are the caregiver for your mother in your home AND for your father and his wife? Where do your father and his wife live?

How did you end up being the person to take care of all three of them? Is this what you want?

It is time for assisted living. Ask her doctor if he would sign papers for her. She is no longer safe

Your Mom has Dementia according to your profile. This is what they do and no amount of "addressing" her behaviour will work. Seems like Mom has an area all to herself. You may need to make it safer for Mom. No knives, no microwave or stove. She needs 24/7 supervision. Dementia is very unpredictable. She could leave a pan on the stove, and start a fire. If you can't give her this supervision, time to place her.

I think you are spreading yourself too thin. If you need to make a choice, it should be the parent living with you. If Dads wife has children, they should be helping her. Dad will need to hire someone if you choose to care for Mom. Dementia is 24/7 care.

Facility time

Sorry to see this about your mother, but it is no longer safe for her to live alone. Get her into a facility as soon as possible. Stay with her and get a social worker to be with her until she is placed.

Both your mother and his wife require skilled nursing in a facility.

Just a thought: there could be a couple of things going on here.
As well as dementia your mother may have a little but of hoarding disorder. This is when the security of having our own things tips into a problematic mental health area, often when we are at a vulnerable
point in our lives. It’s also possible that the constant rummaging is also a form of “self stim” where your mother needs something tactile when she can no longer see well.
Maybe try giving your Mum something to hold? A rug? A scarf? There are also fidget items specifically made for those of us with dementia.

This might mean you can tackle her”stuff”. See if you can put some of it out of the way, reassuring her that you know exactly where it is, or a “Grandchild” is using it and really enjoying it , or it looks just lovely on that shelf. Probably not worth persuading her to throw things out at this stage in her life. Too distressing for both of you.

Hope you improve things for both of you. Such a difficult situation.

If you are caring for 3 people it seems you are going way 'above and beyond' which puts you at risk for caregiver burnout, where you will then be no help to anyone and your health/life at risk. With dementia, you cannot reason with the hoarding/rummaging behavior as others here explain. You can only minimize all potential hazards, a job in itself. Please find and exhaust all possible alternative solutions so all are healthy and in good hands. All the best.

Get a broom and sweep path.

By saying "her part of the house" as regards your Mom: Does she live with you in your home but has a part of your to "to herself"? Not clear on that but I feel that you mother must have 24 hour supervision, and I am not sure you want to provide that. Her environment is not safe if she is stepping on a sharp knife on the floor, and bleeding. Disengage burners on the stove immediately, as she is likely to start a fire if so terribly out of touch with her environment. If she is to have access to the kitchen, perhaps you could insist (and simply endure, as you have to) on paper plates and disposable plastic utensils. It surely sounds as though she is a candidate for placement in a safe facility or placement with you. I will hazard a suggestion that you seek counseling from a social worker or therapist who can help you sort through 'how' to care for 3 persons. Dad and his wife with broken femur need InHome assistance hired by Dad and wife's family. I truly think that a Social worker familiar with geriatric patients could help YOU come up with a plan for managing these three persons. You will note that I am not saying that YOU provide the services for these three. The MSW can help you devised a unique plan to address the needs of the three, and part of the plan might be transferring one or more to a care facility. God Bless you, and this situation will break you, without assistance

As much as you don’t want to you are going to have to get rid of some of this stuff. There is nothing that will keep her from dragging it out.

If she falls and breaks her hip it will be game over.

My mom was same but we finally had to just do it and put up with the anger. Lots of it was just trash.

Perhaps a visit to the Geriatric Psychiatrist would benefit both of you - the OCD can be medicated, but the living arrangement requires assisted living.

The fact that she's nearly blind would be a reason she wants things left where she put them. Someone else organizing her stuff would be a nightmare. Imagine if someone came into your home and reorganized to their liking and then you needed to find something. Imagine, if you will, you set something down and then someone comes along and tosses it out. Could be very frustrating not being able to find it and even more so if you have poor vision while looking for it. On the other hand, for her the situation like the knife indicates she definitely needs some help.

You mention 'her' part of the house, but then said she doesn't see well enough to wash dishes or eating from dirty dishes/moldy food. So, sounds like to me she might have a kitchen in her area?? Start with that. If she has her own kitchen, tell her because of the knife and food she can't really see if it's gone bad, all the cooking and prep needs to be done in your kitchen area for safety reasons. You want her to remain as independent as possible and separate kitchen areas could be dangerous. If YOU need help for food prep for her, then get someone to come in to do that for her (let her pay for it if she can afford that - or you pay to help both of you get food prepared).

The food prep person could start with additional chore of vacuuming her room or very small steps to keep things picked up. If she resists, tell her it's to help YOU out in keeping the house clean. Instruct the person to leave her things where they are or ask her where she wants them to be put.

"Her partof the house" implies that she lives with you. That may no longer be safe or healthy for either of you.

Sbfcmtn: Perhaps it is due time for managed care facility living for your mother.

If she's almost blind you should be able to check for expired food and rewash dishes without her knowing much about it.

My mother did that at age 100-101. I just gradually removed items that she was no longer paying attention to. I did not throw anything out just in case she asked where those items were again. However she never missed any of the removed items. I did not try to organize anything though as it is was her bedroom and her belongings. Note: She only rummaged through personal belongings in her bedroom no other location in our house. Leaving her in control of her private space kept her anxiety level down as she was aware of her physical limitations but not her increasing mental limitations. Reducing the amount of items she was rummaging through also seemed to reduce her anxiety. - She was actually wearing herself out going through all her belongings. Interestingly as the end of her life neared she actually began requesting to get rid of many of her belongings as if she new her time to leave earth life was near.

It sounds like she is a hoarder. She is probably bored and playing with her stuff makes her feel better. It sounds like she lives alone, and I question her safety. Make the decision to move her before something terrible happens and you have to live with the guilt forever. Maybe tell her home is not safe and until repairs can be completed she cannot stay in it. It’s probably the truth. Most hoarder homes are unsafe.