social services assessments

[catherinej]

Ive read lots of postings on the site which have been very helpful . My mum is in hospital at present undergoing assessments. She had a brain scan yesterday and we are awaiting the results.
At the moment nobody seems to be prepared to tell us what will happen next.
Can you help? Will the social services assessment show what type of care she needs, will they say shae has to go in a care home-which shew doesnt want. How long do these assessments normally take? She has been in hospital for 1 week now. Can anyone shed any light on this
Thanks

 

[Kriss]

Hi Catherine - not much use really, but we kept asking that Aunty be admitted for assessment and didn't get anywhere so you at least have a foot on the ladder so to speak.

She did have a scan early on though but the results were inconclusive - "normal for a person of that age" but consultant said "however if she had a memory problem then this is the sort of result he'd expect" ????

I hope you get a more straightforward result - even when its bad it really does help to know what you are up against.

Good luck

Kriss

 

[Brucie]

Jan had three assessments in all over 18 months, the first two were a week each, the third she never came home from.

The purpose of Jan's assessments were for the doctor to make an objective assessment of her condition - they tested how she dealt with cutlery, memory tests, etc. They checked her diet and bodily functions, etc - gave her a full check over. They also looked at the types of medication that might help her to continue life as normal as possible.

All assessments were around this time of year and I would visit her each day and for the first one we walked in the hospital garden and sat out a lot. We both got better tans than we had had for years. The first was the best, for us.

The assessments were also to evaluate what additional help might be appropriate. That was a damp squib because we never got anything worth the having.

Looking back, it was necessary for the assessments to take place, though we both hated them. The first one was most painful because Jan accused me of dumping and leaving her.

I'd have thought it would be unlikely that a care home would be suggested at a first assessment, but it all depends on the individual circumstances of course.

Best wishes

 

[Bugsy]

catherinej

It seems from reading the responses that everyone has had a different experience.

My Dad had an assessment last year in London before my parents moved closer to me in Kent. This assessment was based on a variety of memory tests. From this it showed that he had very little new learning abilities and reasoning skills which indicated that the fall he had five years ago may have caused when he fell very heavily on his forehead.

Whilst we were waiting for these results (about 6 - 8 weeks) it was evident that Dad was becoming more forgetful and Mum being disabled was unable to cope so they moved 5 mins away to me instead of being 1 hour away.

After Christmas he went into an assessment day centre twice a week for around 8 weeks where it was confirmed that he had dementia, caused they say by suffering from High Blood pressure for 40 years. He had a brain scan and they found no damage to his head! Mum and I were so sure that this was going to be the cause and if it had been Dad's dementia would have been more acceptable to Mum.

A Care Manager had been appointment by the Social Services to Mum when she had a fall 2 months prior to Dad's assessment, this referral was made by the hospital who treated her after her fall. They also picked up on Dad's needs and made an appointment to discuss the actions we would like to take. It is from these meetings that a day care has been made available and a visitor from Crossroads. The Care Manager listens to our needs and tries to look after the whole family i.e. me and mum. I can phone them when I need further help or increased care visits and discussed the need for respite care, which as I have mentioned in other postings didn't work as Dad escaped and was home within two hours. In my experience Care Managers will only do what the family want.

I hope this helps.

At the moment Dad is doing well, he has been given further medication and we have decided to only give him this if he shows additional 'activities' - Who knows what will be facing us tomorrow but as I keep reading take each day as it comes.

Thanks to all those who write on these pages as it certainly helps.


Regards to all

Lesley

 

[catherinej]

Thanks for all the responses. Its conforting to know that people are out there who have first hand experience who I can talk to. I think its just a matter of wait and see. If mum does come home she is going to have to have a lot of support and care because she is unable to cook proper meals, tending to snack and has become incontinent at night.

Some days she can be really bright and chatty and others very down. I looked at the assessment questions and I know that she would be unable to answer a lot of them.

I live about 100 miles away but have been visiting as often as I can especially while she has been in hjospital. Even though, I look back now and know I could have done more. Mum came to stay with me at Easter and I keep hoping that maybe she'll be able to visit again. My 2 sisters have been great and taken care of mum taking it in turns so that she had a visitor each day at home, cooking and cleaning for her.

Its difficult when you don't know what lies ahead, I think the advice to take each day at a time sounds right and I'll support my mum and my sisters as much as I can.
Thanks to everyone