Hello
Hard to put a short title for my problem! My Aunt, with Alzheimers, lives close to my mother, her sister. My cousins are a very caring and close family and I really don't want to upset them but they seem to be blind to certain things which to me seem obvious (maybe I'm in the wrong). My mother spends a lot of time with my aunt and my cousins don't think she needs to but the amount of professional carer time they are providing means that if Mum didn't visit my Aunty would be on her own for many hours at a time. She has someone coming for an hour and a half on the days family don't come. So they get her up give her her main meal and perhaps do one or two chores or take her to the hairdressers and back and then she'd be left from early afternoon to the following morning alone. She doesn't think to turn on a light or television or radio herself so would be sat Zombie like for most of that time. Mum shares memories with her chatting and watching programmes she knows her sister would have chosen and suggests she gets up and moves about a bit and such things but they don't seem to think these things matter. I've read about the importance of trying to keep a routine on the Alzheimer's website.
My siblings and I have been discussing this lately because Mum has been run ragged and it would be much easier for her if there were more care hours but the cousins really can't see the point. They have been persuaded to think about a personal emergency alarm at last and are considering moving her closer to one of them but we wonder if she'll get the time that Mum's been giving her and suspect the move will be disorientating for her, causing a decline. We're in a very difficult position because obviously it IS their decision but we really care what happens for both our Mum's sakes. Has anyone got any similar problems or comment to make?
PINKS
Hard to put a short title for my problem! My Aunt, with Alzheimers, lives close to my mother, her sister. My cousins are a very caring and close family and I really don't want to upset them but they seem to be blind to certain things which to me seem obvious (maybe I'm in the wrong). My mother spends a lot of time with my aunt and my cousins don't think she needs to but the amount of professional carer time they are providing means that if Mum didn't visit my Aunty would be on her own for many hours at a time. She has someone coming for an hour and a half on the days family don't come. So they get her up give her her main meal and perhaps do one or two chores or take her to the hairdressers and back and then she'd be left from early afternoon to the following morning alone. She doesn't think to turn on a light or television or radio herself so would be sat Zombie like for most of that time. Mum shares memories with her chatting and watching programmes she knows her sister would have chosen and suggests she gets up and moves about a bit and such things but they don't seem to think these things matter. I've read about the importance of trying to keep a routine on the Alzheimer's website.
My siblings and I have been discussing this lately because Mum has been run ragged and it would be much easier for her if there were more care hours but the cousins really can't see the point. They have been persuaded to think about a personal emergency alarm at last and are considering moving her closer to one of them but we wonder if she'll get the time that Mum's been giving her and suspect the move will be disorientating for her, causing a decline. We're in a very difficult position because obviously it IS their decision but we really care what happens for both our Mum's sakes. Has anyone got any similar problems or comment to make?
PINKS