As some of you may know, Mum (age 77) has Mixed Vascular Dementia, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and CCF (Conjestive Heart Failure)
Mum will need a Care Home sometime in the future. What I am trying to work out is what type?
At the moment, I visit once a week for the day, and she has Carers visiting (private funding) every day, a visit at approx 10am and a visit at 6.00pm for ½hour each time. They are a new care company and are identifying her needs, contacting me with any new concerns they have and I feel confident with them. I can see, very soon, I will need to extend the times they visit as Mum seems to have had a recent drop off her plateau and moved onto another lower level. (Family and sibling are still to catch up with this change )
It could be the changes with the new Care Company, but think not, as Mum very relieved she doesn’t have the other company coming in. (when she remembers )
Since I have been regularly visiting, Mum has “relaxed” with me and trusts me implicitly – and she keeps telling me this – my sister on the other hand ...... I think this is because I use the Contented Dementia way of dealing with her (didn’t realise I did this until I recently read the book) and my sister is unable to do so (she will be getting the book for Christmas!). So for the moment, sister is the Devil, I am the Angel.
Mum is not eating properly – can/could operate a microwave but not make a meal from scratch (used to be a trained cook ), housework etc ..... what housework, apart from talking about what cleaning/changig sheets etc she has done that day...... personal care very questionable, has what she calls “giggle leaks” and uses T*** Lady to catch them, or rolled up toilet paper in a big wad..... short term memory, on the day, shot to pieces, but can (?why?) remember a couple of days later some things – not appointment dates, or that they have been made, but things like food shopping, going to see a friend, that I visited...... maybe that’s because they are warm feelings and appointments etc are not...? She visits an AgeUk club one day a week - sometimes she likes it, but often not as "there are people there who are so old"......(most her age)
Health not good... gets very breathless and panics about that, has panic attacks often, has "spinnys" occasional falls and stumbles when getting up from chair, out shopping, when in a situation she's not comfortable with.... These episodes are being checked by doc - Chest xray, respiration monitoring, heart tracing - ECG? antibios when unusually confused (I was introduced as her sister most of yesterday - she's never had one but insisted I was her sister)
Soooo..... back to original question. Which type of Care home? Nursing Homes with dementia care? EMI homes? My guess is dementia is not going to be the main issue in her care, the other things she’s got are going to get her first......
Mum will need a Care Home sometime in the future. What I am trying to work out is what type?
At the moment, I visit once a week for the day, and she has Carers visiting (private funding) every day, a visit at approx 10am and a visit at 6.00pm for ½hour each time. They are a new care company and are identifying her needs, contacting me with any new concerns they have and I feel confident with them. I can see, very soon, I will need to extend the times they visit as Mum seems to have had a recent drop off her plateau and moved onto another lower level. (Family and sibling are still to catch up with this change )
It could be the changes with the new Care Company, but think not, as Mum very relieved she doesn’t have the other company coming in. (when she remembers )
Since I have been regularly visiting, Mum has “relaxed” with me and trusts me implicitly – and she keeps telling me this – my sister on the other hand ...... I think this is because I use the Contented Dementia way of dealing with her (didn’t realise I did this until I recently read the book) and my sister is unable to do so (she will be getting the book for Christmas!). So for the moment, sister is the Devil, I am the Angel.
Mum is not eating properly – can/could operate a microwave but not make a meal from scratch (used to be a trained cook ), housework etc ..... what housework, apart from talking about what cleaning/changig sheets etc she has done that day...... personal care very questionable, has what she calls “giggle leaks” and uses T*** Lady to catch them, or rolled up toilet paper in a big wad..... short term memory, on the day, shot to pieces, but can (?why?) remember a couple of days later some things – not appointment dates, or that they have been made, but things like food shopping, going to see a friend, that I visited...... maybe that’s because they are warm feelings and appointments etc are not...? She visits an AgeUk club one day a week - sometimes she likes it, but often not as "there are people there who are so old"......(most her age)
Health not good... gets very breathless and panics about that, has panic attacks often, has "spinnys" occasional falls and stumbles when getting up from chair, out shopping, when in a situation she's not comfortable with.... These episodes are being checked by doc - Chest xray, respiration monitoring, heart tracing - ECG? antibios when unusually confused (I was introduced as her sister most of yesterday - she's never had one but insisted I was her sister)
Soooo..... back to original question. Which type of Care home? Nursing Homes with dementia care? EMI homes? My guess is dementia is not going to be the main issue in her care, the other things she’s got are going to get her first......
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