The Meal Minder clock was first presented in 2007 on our blog The Pragmatic Caregiver.  The linked article has a bit more detail than shown here.  A couple geeky guys trying to help my dad live out his life with the illusion of living independently as much as possible.  If you're caring for a parent or elderly relative, our experiences may be helpful.   There's also an article there about interpreting analog vs. digital clocks for the cognitively impaired.

As my father aged with dementia, he had trouble remembering when to go to meals at the assisted living facility.  A digital clock makes it easier to tell that the time is 11:45 for example, but knowing that “11:45” means “almost lunch” takes a fair bit of cognitive processing.  Helping him remember to get to meals while maintaining as much independence as possible was desirable.

Digital clocks don’t help relate “time” to “events” and analog clocks don’t do the trick entirely.  A perfect solution was conceived during a moment of clarity that solved a number of problems.  In addition to not making it to meals, dad might fall asleep during the day and later wake up at say, 1 o’clock.  Since all the lights are on, it’s difficult to know if it’s 1 pm or 1 am.  So he’d get up and roam the halls looking for his buddies who were all fast asleep.*

The battery-operated moment from a standard analog clock was replaced with a 24 hour moment having a single hour hand.  A new clock face was drawn with 6 AM at the top.  The segment from 7 – 8 AM was shaded and labeled “breakfast.”  The segment straight to the right was labeled lunch, and another segment near the bottom was labeled as dinner.  Much of the left side of the clock face was labeled bedtime.  A quick look let dad know if it was almost time to eat or the middle of the night and time to be asleep.

24 Hour quartz clock movements are available from Amazon and other sources.  These are usually very similar in size and shape.  The length of the threaded shaft should be about the same as the donor clock.   The donor clock hands may fit on the new movement; if not, hands of the same length that fit the new movement will be required.

The simplest clock will work well for the Meal Mind clock.  it's easiest if the clock has no front crystal.  A new face must be drawn to replace the clock face.  Remember, this is a 24 hour clock.  I positioned 6AM at the top and 6PM at the bottom which fit well with the facility's schedule.  Only the hour hand is installed, which serves as pointer to meals and bedtime.  it's best to keep the face uncluttered for the cognitively impaired.

The meal clock allowed dad to function with a lot of independence for a year or more after he started having difficulties making sense of the clock and allowed him to function without too much guidance.

*Lighting Control to Help Time Awareness

A solution we eventually worked out was automated light dimming and turning them gradually off as a cue to go to bed, and if he woke up later, he'd know it was time to be asleep.  We set all the lights to full bright during the day to help him stay awake, gradually dimming during the evening.  This was way back in the days before the plethora of cheap IoT devices, so this was no small project.

Dad was complaining that light control wasn't necessary and a waste of money.  The value of the system was proven when we asked dad how the system was working.  "What?  No, the lights aren't turning themselves off and on the themselves.  What are you talking about?!?"  Perfect.  He didn't even notice the lights dimming down and leading him to bed.  No more nocturnal wandering.