Blursday

I remember when I first started visiting clients in skilled nursing facilities (care homes) seeing bulletin boards in the hallways and common areas with the Day, the Date, the Season, the Weather, the next upcoming holiday, the last past holiday, who the President was. I was puzzled as to why, and honestly the postings were very elementary school in a home filled with mature adults.  Then I saw the Mini Mental Status (State) Exam, and realized they were trying to keep in inmates (residents) oriented to time and place so they could score well on this basic screening tool for mental capacity.  

Back in 2015 I spent some time as a resident for inpatient physical rehab.  I was there over the Memorial Day weekend.  I remember being surprised when I didn't have any therapy scheduled for Monday, asking when it would be scheduled, and being told Monday was a holiday and most of the staff had the day off.  In a couple of weeks, with no connection to a normal schedule (and a few pain meds) I had lost track of the calendar beyond what was posted on the schedule in my room - the times I was schedule to be picked up for therapy and about when I would return to my room. Those postings the hallway were an attempt to connect the day-to-day routine to what the rest of the world considers the normal connection to place and time that is lost when we veer from our normal routine, from connectedness with the outside world.  

There is a lot of that going on this year all over the world.  And yet we still consider those benchmarks of memory as a measure of capacity.  We aren't losing it, it is different. 

Have you found yourself needing to check what day of the week it was more than usual?