We’re looking for advice on Care Homes for people with mid stage Alzheimers.
My aunt (in her late-80s) was diagnosed with early Alzheimers in 2018. The only family she has are nieces/nephews, who all live a couple of hours away. She said that she would prefer to stay in her own home so we arranged daily carer visits at lunchtime varying from 1 to 3 hours, but otherwise she is alone. This has been working pretty well for the past three years, and she really likes the carers now. But recently there have been a number of safety-related incidents which make us think that the need to move to a care home may not be far away.
When the time comes, she owns her house and has quite a lot of other savings, so would be self-funding.
As we can’t look round any Care Homes at the moment due to Covid, we have very little idea how good they might be as an alternative. I’m not referring to a specific care home here, but Dementia Care Homes in general.
Are there any that are pleasant and fulfilling places to live, that cater well for different types of personalities and provide occasional periods of one-to-one attention? We think, for example, that she might like to be allowed to stay in her room sometimes to watch TV, but might also like to be encouraged to join in with other activities and social events occasionally.
Also, although she is not able to do much for herself now, she is not at all rude or aggressive - is she likely to be placed in accommodation with people at a similar stage, or will she be with people who are a lot further down the line, possibly with more unpredictable behaviour which might be upsetting for her?
And by paying more, do you get better care, or just better surroundings/facilities?
We’d be very grateful for any advice or feedback from people who have more experience than us. In particular, it would be a great relief to hear from people who have had a good positive experience from moving a loved one into a dementia care home at this sort of stage.
My aunt (in her late-80s) was diagnosed with early Alzheimers in 2018. The only family she has are nieces/nephews, who all live a couple of hours away. She said that she would prefer to stay in her own home so we arranged daily carer visits at lunchtime varying from 1 to 3 hours, but otherwise she is alone. This has been working pretty well for the past three years, and she really likes the carers now. But recently there have been a number of safety-related incidents which make us think that the need to move to a care home may not be far away.
When the time comes, she owns her house and has quite a lot of other savings, so would be self-funding.
As we can’t look round any Care Homes at the moment due to Covid, we have very little idea how good they might be as an alternative. I’m not referring to a specific care home here, but Dementia Care Homes in general.
Are there any that are pleasant and fulfilling places to live, that cater well for different types of personalities and provide occasional periods of one-to-one attention? We think, for example, that she might like to be allowed to stay in her room sometimes to watch TV, but might also like to be encouraged to join in with other activities and social events occasionally.
Also, although she is not able to do much for herself now, she is not at all rude or aggressive - is she likely to be placed in accommodation with people at a similar stage, or will she be with people who are a lot further down the line, possibly with more unpredictable behaviour which might be upsetting for her?
And by paying more, do you get better care, or just better surroundings/facilities?
We’d be very grateful for any advice or feedback from people who have more experience than us. In particular, it would be a great relief to hear from people who have had a good positive experience from moving a loved one into a dementia care home at this sort of stage.
