Hi everyone! My first post to the forum. I had been doing OK of late but my care for my 75 year-old brother has become so much more complicated since the restrictions brought in to combat Covid 19 came into force. Rather than every day, which I was doing until recently, I now see him every other day to help preserve his and fellow residents and my own safety; but this is affecting his wellbeing more than ever. He lives in sheltered accommodation fairly locally to me , but I am now struggling to support him as I'm sure will be many others in a similar predicament. He is in the early middle stages of Alzheimer's, so has some independence (he can still get about his flat reasonably well) but he's not physically or mentally fit enough to get out safely and needs help with shopping for and preparing food. My sister and I are shopping for him (pity we can't queue at the designated times for older people, although I am 65 and she is 63) and we have a local agency coming in thrice a day to ensure he is being fed and taking his medication. He can still just about use his phone, but unfortunately, his speech is getting very poor and he can't use a computer (he even finds FaceTime a major challenge), so his feelings of isolation are being greatly enhanced by this wretched epidemic. Apart from doing what we're doing for him (and his GP is being kept informed and are helping as much as they can), is there anything else I can do for this lonely, isolated and frankly miserable sibling any more than we are doing? Despite our best efforts, he's not interested in puzzles, colouring or any other kind of stimulation!
New to the forum!
- Thread starter mintymiller
- Start date
Hello and welcome @mintymiller.
I don't have similar experience but other members are facing this sort of issue now so I'm sure you will get replies.
Please keep posting for support as the membership has vast collective knowledge and experience.
I don't have similar experience but other members are facing this sort of issue now so I'm sure you will get replies.
Please keep posting for support as the membership has vast collective knowledge and experience.
Thanks for the welcome Pete! I am absolutely sure that I'm not alone but I honestly don't think there's much more can be done than we are doing. He is registered with social services, so I might see what's available there but I'm not holding my breath!
Welcome to the forum from me too, @mintymiller. I can't offer any more than Pete to help with your poor brother's isolation, but social services put me in touch with a local charity who offered to help with shopping in order to take some of the risk away. If you're finding shopping difficult you could as your local social services for help there.
Hi @mintymiller, are warm welcome to the forum. It is certainly a very challenging situation for your whole family. It sounds as though you already have a good support network wrapped around your brother. You have a difficult balancing act. Sadly as dementia progresses technology can become more difficult for communication.
Good advice by @nae sporran, but just to add have you checked with the Supermarket as some are giving priority to unpaid carers providing support.
Good advice by @nae sporran, but just to add have you checked with the Supermarket as some are giving priority to unpaid carers providing support.
Thanks for the tips everyone. I take each day as it comes and of course, things should ease once the current restrictions have been lifted.
