My dad has recently moved permanently into a care home, having had several short stays for respite. My mum has been caring for him at home and we have known for some time that he would require permanent care at some point soon - the decision was taken out of our hands really when my mum had a stroke a couple of months ago. She is doing well and dad's transition to a permanent contract was very smooth.
Now he's been in for a couple of months, I have some questions to ask others who may have been through this before us...
Staff are really friendly and kind - but pretty difficult to get in touch with even when they have suggested getting in touch to arrange a care review... should we be concerned about this? I live more than an hour away so can't visit often and rely on phone/ email to stay in touch in between.
We have been told we can attend a care review every month - mum just made the appointment for the first one and staff seemed surprised that she wanted it... what are people's experiences of care reviews/ frequency/ type etc.
Dad's Alzheimer's is quite advanced - when still at home he slept much of the time and was difficult to wake and get up in the mornings; he was often up at night. Staff tell us that he is rarely up at night now, but he is almost always sleeping when we visit - often still in his pyjamas during the day. When he is dressed, he is always clean and well presented. We have tried to wake him to get him to eat but it's a real struggle. I know that people sleep more and eat less as dementia progresses but when does that usually happen - is this just normal behaviour that we are seeing from dad, or should we be concerned?
On our last visit, we sat dad up, woke him and encouraged him to eat his lunch - he did really well and then promptly vomited it all up again! The nurse was excellent and checked him over (he's been fine since) and suggested that he had simply eaten more than he could cope with (he had eaten a hearty portion of sausage casserole with potatoes and veg!) She said he typically ate half his meal and took an hour to do so - with us, he ate almost all of it in about 25 minutes... probably does explain the vomiting! So hard to know what is 'normal' and what to worry about in terms of quality of care.
Thank you for ploughing through all of this and for any advice you can offer.
Now he's been in for a couple of months, I have some questions to ask others who may have been through this before us...
Staff are really friendly and kind - but pretty difficult to get in touch with even when they have suggested getting in touch to arrange a care review... should we be concerned about this? I live more than an hour away so can't visit often and rely on phone/ email to stay in touch in between.
We have been told we can attend a care review every month - mum just made the appointment for the first one and staff seemed surprised that she wanted it... what are people's experiences of care reviews/ frequency/ type etc.
Dad's Alzheimer's is quite advanced - when still at home he slept much of the time and was difficult to wake and get up in the mornings; he was often up at night. Staff tell us that he is rarely up at night now, but he is almost always sleeping when we visit - often still in his pyjamas during the day. When he is dressed, he is always clean and well presented. We have tried to wake him to get him to eat but it's a real struggle. I know that people sleep more and eat less as dementia progresses but when does that usually happen - is this just normal behaviour that we are seeing from dad, or should we be concerned?
On our last visit, we sat dad up, woke him and encouraged him to eat his lunch - he did really well and then promptly vomited it all up again! The nurse was excellent and checked him over (he's been fine since) and suggested that he had simply eaten more than he could cope with (he had eaten a hearty portion of sausage casserole with potatoes and veg!) She said he typically ate half his meal and took an hour to do so - with us, he ate almost all of it in about 25 minutes... probably does explain the vomiting! So hard to know what is 'normal' and what to worry about in terms of quality of care.
Thank you for ploughing through all of this and for any advice you can offer.