Hello
My dad has deteriorated a lot since going into care 8 months ago. I haven't seen him get out of his chair for weeks, he seems almost completely withdrawn from the rest of the world, he doesn't necessarily react to people speaking to him and he doesn't seem to talk much. He's on the less advanced ward of a dementia home and he seems so much worse now than all the rest (whereas when he went in he was one of the more lucid ones).
He's also now unable to feed himself and incontinent (not sure if he is doubly incontinent or not). He is got up and dressed every day and generally looks OK although he's lost an awful lot of weight (he's on building up milkshake medicine).
The care home look after him OK although there have been quite a few changes in key personnel recently and they've just changed care home manager, and sometimes it's a bit erratic on the small things (like hearing aids being clean and working, nose and ear hairs getting a bit wild, the odd day when I notice nails could be cleaner). All in all, I'm a little nervous about the changes at the home and what they may bring, and I could do with some help in spotting what signs I should be looking out for now that he is no longer able to express any concerns/discomfort himself.
Can anyone help?
If he's sitting most of the day in a hard chair, should I be asking them to make sure he gets up now and again?
What about his medicines - should I be asking for a complete review of his drugs? He was on anti depressants and anti psychotics and he still is and I'm just wondering if they may be making it more difficult for him to "resurface" since his decline. One of the nurses (who has now left) cut the dose of his anti psychotic drugs in half while he was fighting an infection and this made him much more "with it" but he seems to have lost this.
Is there anything else I should be asking/doing? Should I be asking for a complete review by the doctor or even a consultant?
Many thanks
Feezee
My dad has deteriorated a lot since going into care 8 months ago. I haven't seen him get out of his chair for weeks, he seems almost completely withdrawn from the rest of the world, he doesn't necessarily react to people speaking to him and he doesn't seem to talk much. He's on the less advanced ward of a dementia home and he seems so much worse now than all the rest (whereas when he went in he was one of the more lucid ones).
He's also now unable to feed himself and incontinent (not sure if he is doubly incontinent or not). He is got up and dressed every day and generally looks OK although he's lost an awful lot of weight (he's on building up milkshake medicine).
The care home look after him OK although there have been quite a few changes in key personnel recently and they've just changed care home manager, and sometimes it's a bit erratic on the small things (like hearing aids being clean and working, nose and ear hairs getting a bit wild, the odd day when I notice nails could be cleaner). All in all, I'm a little nervous about the changes at the home and what they may bring, and I could do with some help in spotting what signs I should be looking out for now that he is no longer able to express any concerns/discomfort himself.
Can anyone help?
If he's sitting most of the day in a hard chair, should I be asking them to make sure he gets up now and again?
What about his medicines - should I be asking for a complete review of his drugs? He was on anti depressants and anti psychotics and he still is and I'm just wondering if they may be making it more difficult for him to "resurface" since his decline. One of the nurses (who has now left) cut the dose of his anti psychotic drugs in half while he was fighting an infection and this made him much more "with it" but he seems to have lost this.
Is there anything else I should be asking/doing? Should I be asking for a complete review by the doctor or even a consultant?
Many thanks
Feezee