Hi all.
I'm a new member here & have been reading through various threads (I've never been on a forum before so forgive any faux pas on my part...
I really hope someone can help....
My mum has mid/late stage dementia & is currently being cared for in a Residential Home. As my mums condition has deteriorated her behaviour has become more 'challenging' for the staff & they have told us that they are no longer able to care for her needs & we need to organise moving her care to a Nursing Home. My mum is self funding at present.
I have, in searching for help & support, come across Dementia uk & would like to know more about the Admiral Nursing service. I can see from the map that My Mums area doesn't seem to be covered but I am hoping that someone can give me some information & advice.
I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to find an appropriate nursing home in her locality that specialises in care of the elderly, mental health & specifically offers dementia care. I thought that I had found a really good place for my mum but have today found out that, following an assessment, despite being specifically a dementia care unit, with a bed available, that they can not take her as her behaviour is too 'challenging' for them to cope with. (They already have 3 residents whose care needs are high due to difficult behaviour & don't have the necessary RMN cover to cope with another resident with high care needs)
Mums 'challenging behaviour' is, from what I can gather from the information I have received quite 'typical' of her deteriorating condition: agitation, aggression (physically lashing out at staff & other residents), double incontinence, difficulty with self expression, speech & communication, sleep disturbance, wandering (she was found wandering the local town last week), paranoia, anxiety & deterioration in her condition as the day progresses.) I realise that caring for patients with dementia can be quite challenging but I don't really want to see my Mum placed in an EMI unit as I don't believe this would be in her best interest.... Though, obviously, I could be wrong.
At present it has been suggested that we look into 1:1 nursing cover for mum.... Which I haven't done as yet. My presumption at this time is that it would be extremely expensive to do this & what money my mum has to fund her care would very quickly be depleted. I will be attending a funding meeting (DST meeting?) on Thursday where mums social worker & CPN will also be attending. I have also spoken to the social worker involved in mums health care needs (there are 2 separate social workers dealing with a/ mums social care needs & b/ mums healthcare needs.)
At the moment, I seem to be the one 'coordinating' mums care but I'm not doing such a great job as I feel I'm running a bit blind in knowing what options are available. I really want to be involved in the care planning for mum & have let all parties involved know this but options for future care are looking pretty non-existent at the moment & I could do with being able to liaise with a professional who is coordinating care rather than having this responsibility myself, given that I have very limited knowledge about what services are actually available to her.
Is there anyway in which I can get some help with the above? Are there any suggestions that anyone has about a way forward for mums continuing care needs? When we moved mum from her own home into residential care they had assured us that they were set up for dementia care & would be able to cope with mums deteriorating condition. It has been a bit of a blow to find out that this is not the case. I really don't want to be now moving mum to a nursing home only to find out later down the road that they are unable to cope with late stage dementia needs & end of life care..... I feel this would only exacerbate her condition/deterioration if this were to be the case.
Any help or advice anyone can give with regard to a way forward would be very gratefully accepted & appreciated.
I can't believe how difficult & complicated it is to get good, appropriate care for dementia... Feeling at my wits end & very upset at the apparent lack of care out there.
I'm a new member here & have been reading through various threads (I've never been on a forum before so forgive any faux pas on my part...
I really hope someone can help....
My mum has mid/late stage dementia & is currently being cared for in a Residential Home. As my mums condition has deteriorated her behaviour has become more 'challenging' for the staff & they have told us that they are no longer able to care for her needs & we need to organise moving her care to a Nursing Home. My mum is self funding at present.
I have, in searching for help & support, come across Dementia uk & would like to know more about the Admiral Nursing service. I can see from the map that My Mums area doesn't seem to be covered but I am hoping that someone can give me some information & advice.
I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to find an appropriate nursing home in her locality that specialises in care of the elderly, mental health & specifically offers dementia care. I thought that I had found a really good place for my mum but have today found out that, following an assessment, despite being specifically a dementia care unit, with a bed available, that they can not take her as her behaviour is too 'challenging' for them to cope with. (They already have 3 residents whose care needs are high due to difficult behaviour & don't have the necessary RMN cover to cope with another resident with high care needs)
Mums 'challenging behaviour' is, from what I can gather from the information I have received quite 'typical' of her deteriorating condition: agitation, aggression (physically lashing out at staff & other residents), double incontinence, difficulty with self expression, speech & communication, sleep disturbance, wandering (she was found wandering the local town last week), paranoia, anxiety & deterioration in her condition as the day progresses.) I realise that caring for patients with dementia can be quite challenging but I don't really want to see my Mum placed in an EMI unit as I don't believe this would be in her best interest.... Though, obviously, I could be wrong.
At present it has been suggested that we look into 1:1 nursing cover for mum.... Which I haven't done as yet. My presumption at this time is that it would be extremely expensive to do this & what money my mum has to fund her care would very quickly be depleted. I will be attending a funding meeting (DST meeting?) on Thursday where mums social worker & CPN will also be attending. I have also spoken to the social worker involved in mums health care needs (there are 2 separate social workers dealing with a/ mums social care needs & b/ mums healthcare needs.)
At the moment, I seem to be the one 'coordinating' mums care but I'm not doing such a great job as I feel I'm running a bit blind in knowing what options are available. I really want to be involved in the care planning for mum & have let all parties involved know this but options for future care are looking pretty non-existent at the moment & I could do with being able to liaise with a professional who is coordinating care rather than having this responsibility myself, given that I have very limited knowledge about what services are actually available to her.
Is there anyway in which I can get some help with the above? Are there any suggestions that anyone has about a way forward for mums continuing care needs? When we moved mum from her own home into residential care they had assured us that they were set up for dementia care & would be able to cope with mums deteriorating condition. It has been a bit of a blow to find out that this is not the case. I really don't want to be now moving mum to a nursing home only to find out later down the road that they are unable to cope with late stage dementia needs & end of life care..... I feel this would only exacerbate her condition/deterioration if this were to be the case.
Any help or advice anyone can give with regard to a way forward would be very gratefully accepted & appreciated.
I can't believe how difficult & complicated it is to get good, appropriate care for dementia... Feeling at my wits end & very upset at the apparent lack of care out there.
