I'd welcome a few thought on the following situation, please.
Dad moved to a care home in May following a fall and has become progressively more unsteady on his feet, but still enjoys going out for supervised walks etc.
His room is upstairs, with a short flight of stairs that are wide and deep. He takes the stair lift down (due to a shoulder injury), but insists on walking up. A visitor to the home told me yesterday that they saw dad walking up the stairs and thought he needed more supervision because he was particularly unbalanced and at risk of a fall. They reported this to the care home manager.
The opinion of the care home is that dad should be allowed to make his own choices regarding the stairs. If he needs supervision every time he wants to go upstairs, this will curtail his independence (in that he'd have to ask, and then wait etc.). Plus, it's impossible to eliminate all risk.
I can see both sides of this... wanting dad to be safe, knowing that he doesn't always make the best decisions (because of the dementia), but also knowing that the current situation is infinitely better than when he lived alone with a very steep set of stairs to climb everyday.
It's complicated by the fact that I have a very good relationship with the care home manager and they have been nothing short of brilliant from the moment dad moved in. But the stairs do concern me.
Any thoughts?
Dad moved to a care home in May following a fall and has become progressively more unsteady on his feet, but still enjoys going out for supervised walks etc.
His room is upstairs, with a short flight of stairs that are wide and deep. He takes the stair lift down (due to a shoulder injury), but insists on walking up. A visitor to the home told me yesterday that they saw dad walking up the stairs and thought he needed more supervision because he was particularly unbalanced and at risk of a fall. They reported this to the care home manager.
The opinion of the care home is that dad should be allowed to make his own choices regarding the stairs. If he needs supervision every time he wants to go upstairs, this will curtail his independence (in that he'd have to ask, and then wait etc.). Plus, it's impossible to eliminate all risk.
I can see both sides of this... wanting dad to be safe, knowing that he doesn't always make the best decisions (because of the dementia), but also knowing that the current situation is infinitely better than when he lived alone with a very steep set of stairs to climb everyday.
It's complicated by the fact that I have a very good relationship with the care home manager and they have been nothing short of brilliant from the moment dad moved in. But the stairs do concern me.
Any thoughts?