MIL, 85 late mid stage Alzheimers, is in the Memory Unit at a beautiful Assisted Living. She seems very happy there and seems to have adjusted very well. There are 11 other people on the unit and it is a locked unit. There is a day ratio of 3:1 staff, evening staff of 2:6. They go on "field trips" twice a week and are very busy with games and activities the other 5 days of the week (no weekend field trips). They have a rest time after lunch for about an hour where the other resident rest and nap. She does not rest at ALL.. A lot of the residents keep their apartment doors open during this time. The activity director will have MIL sit in front of her office clipping coupons, doing puzzles, etc. After about 5 minutes she is bored and will get up from the table and walk around the unit. If the Aids or the Director take their eyes off her for even a moment she bolt, literally bolts for another residents room on the pretext of "checking on them". She "checks" on a different resident every day. Except she doesn't check on them at all, she raids their refrigerators or goes into their bedrooms and shakes them.
I think that I would just smile and nod and say that I am sorry.
I'm not sure what you think you can contribute, or why you need to? Is the Unit threatening to exclude her, or anything like that?
The only thing I can think of - and this would depend so much on your being available - is organising a daily visit so that you can cover the rest period and do the distracting of her yourself. But that would be a heck of a commitment. I'd have thought it was within the remit of the unit to come up with better solutions, themselves.