So in hindsight, what would I recommend? I would recommend formulating a fall back plan in case the primary caregiver becomes ill. The dementia patient needs a plan that can be put into action immediately because it is a life and death safety issue.
Comments closedCategory: Care Planning
The Care Planning category includes my personal stories about decisions involving medical care, residential choices and quality of life, insurance, and some of the details of daily living that can easily get overlooked. I made decisions about care for both of my parents until the time my father passed away. So I include any relevant care planning for the spouse of the Alzheimer’s patient as well. Most of the stories here describe my reasoning and analysis for reaching the conclusions stated.
Some of the most difficult decisions have been around residential choices and why I’ve selected a particular facility. It’s important to note that I also will write about decisions that I wish I could have made. While my parents were still living in their house, we could have done things differently to keep them there longer. But the caregiver and dominant spouse, in this case my father, must have been willing to adapt to changing circumstances and needs.
Many of the reasons for choosing the current memory unit had to do with proximity to my father’s apartment, 2 floors below my mother’s room, as well as the choice of amenities available for them to enjoy together as a couple. Everything changed when my father died.
Comments closed
Under the nursing home plan, my mother accesses Medicare benefits that help her live more comfortably. For example, she receives therapy to prevent and ease some of the leg and muscle contraction that restricts her sleep positioning. As appropriate, the nurse will assign other services and advocate for my mother’s comfort while she lives. This plan does not supply comfort measures for the dying but helps the living live better; it fills a different need than hospice.
Comments closed
After my parents left home together in an ambulance, the course of diagnoses and events that unfolded for them directed me toward a single, obvious solution to their living arrangements. They clearly could not go home together. The key thing for me at that moment in time was that my parents were safe, fed well, clean and together.
Comments closed