Hello all,
Every couple of days I phone my Alzheimer's loved one in a locked down care home. Her cognition has declined drastically in 6 months of lockdown and after about 10 mins she just puts the phone down but I can still her burbling quietly to herself in the background. Do I try to re-engage her, do I keep listening until a carer picks up the phone, or do I just finish the call? Lockdown is so devastating after 35 years together 24/7, but no-one but family carers seem to understand dementia - certainly not politicians nor medics and not even many care home staff who deal with dementia patients daily. Trying to cope with this lockdown is the loneliest feeling in the world. Constantly asking yourself if you are doing everything you possibly can in the circumstances, now the CCG wants to do a full review of the Continuing Healthcare funding, which alone is an absolute nightmare. And where is the CQC in all of this? Don't they understand that family are the quality monitors in care homes? Without family visitors how can we possibly be confident that a loved one is being properly looked after, especially when care was only just adequate when visiting was unrestricted. The situation is a never ending nightmare and perhaps the only consolation is that my loved one (hopefully) has no enduring awareness, but it is so hard especially when you promised that you would never put them in such a place. Care home residents and their family carers are the biggest and most overlooked victims of Covid.
Every couple of days I phone my Alzheimer's loved one in a locked down care home. Her cognition has declined drastically in 6 months of lockdown and after about 10 mins she just puts the phone down but I can still her burbling quietly to herself in the background. Do I try to re-engage her, do I keep listening until a carer picks up the phone, or do I just finish the call? Lockdown is so devastating after 35 years together 24/7, but no-one but family carers seem to understand dementia - certainly not politicians nor medics and not even many care home staff who deal with dementia patients daily. Trying to cope with this lockdown is the loneliest feeling in the world. Constantly asking yourself if you are doing everything you possibly can in the circumstances, now the CCG wants to do a full review of the Continuing Healthcare funding, which alone is an absolute nightmare. And where is the CQC in all of this? Don't they understand that family are the quality monitors in care homes? Without family visitors how can we possibly be confident that a loved one is being properly looked after, especially when care was only just adequate when visiting was unrestricted. The situation is a never ending nightmare and perhaps the only consolation is that my loved one (hopefully) has no enduring awareness, but it is so hard especially when you promised that you would never put them in such a place. Care home residents and their family carers are the biggest and most overlooked victims of Covid.