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Self-Isolating Family Creates Home Supermarket Experience to Help Grandmother With Dementia

An Australian family created a make-believe supermarket in their own home on April 4, enabling their grandmother with dementia to complete her weekly shopping routine.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia has meant vulnerable older people such as 87-year-old Hendrika van Genderen have been urged to remain at home.

With the grandmother unable to carry out her usual weekly routines, the family decided to bring the supermarket to her, filming the entire experience before publishing it on Facebook.

In the footage, Jason van Genderen, her son, can be seen helping her decide which groceries to pick up, while Megan and Evie, Jason’s wife and daughter, help out from the other side of a counter. Art , the couple’s youngest son, is the charming cashier at the end of the counter, while their oldest son, Levi, recorded the footage.

Speaking to Storyful, Jason van Genderen said, "Normally we have some carers visiting every few days to help her with social visits, shopping, personal care etc, but due to the pandemic we all home-isolated four weeks ago to keep her safe from COVID-19.

“Any changes to her weekly routine throw her capacity to cope with normal everyday routines into a total tailspin — so missing out on shopping has caused a huge deficit in her cognitive function. It’s been a sizable regression,” Van Genderen said.

He added, "The idea we had about making a supermarket at home was to try and reinstate the weekly shopping trip so she felt she had the role to perform. I’d gone out the previous evening and purchased all her goods and we simply made them available on-shelf at home.

“We’ve been documenting our journey through this from day one, as both an in-house therapy for all but also to document what life this close to dementia is really like,” Van Genderen said. “It’s heart-achingly difficult, but creating slivers of lighthearted moments help carry our whole family through.” Credit: Jason van Genderen via Storyful