When I woke up this morning and helped Trish get the dogs into the car for their weekly, weekend trip to the Starbucks drive thru. On my way back into the house I grabbed the morning paper, “The Sacramento Bee, August 3, 2014.” My normal routine is to glance over the cover page and then get the dogs food ready, help unload them when their back from their drive, then I go back and read the cover articles. Today was different, I couldn’t put the paper down. The main story on the cover page today reads,
AS MEMORIES FADE | One in an occasional series
CAN MOM LIVE ALONE?
ONE FAMILY’S STRUGGLE
BY ANITA CREAMER | acreamer@sacbee.com
The side note read, “It took planning and patience for Meredith’s (Last Name Removed for Privacy) children to get her into the residential care she needs – and for them, they had to shake off their feelings of guilt.” See Meredith is 87 and has lived in the same house for over 37 years, that’s also how long ago her husband passed. For the past four months Meredith’s Alzheimer’s has progressed to the middle – later stages and is to the point that her children and family members are now staying with her 24/7 in shifts. This however is just not enough and the doctors are recommending she be placed into a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) where she can receive the around the clock care she requires. Alzheimer’s is estimated to effect 5.1 million people. Patients with Alzheimer’s can have varying levels of agitation, restlessness and sleeplessness which at times, they may also be found wandering, have judgment, planning or even organizing issues. Anyone of these behaviors can lead to paranoia or being frightened over even the smallest of things. The majority of people with Alzheimer’s or other form of dementia are more likely to require the need of an aid or caregiver over someone not dealing with the disease. At first Meredith’s kids thought it would be an issue moving mom into a SNF where she would be look after, feed, provided with extra activities (church, bingo, bowling, most SNF’s even have a beautician on site and much more), every aspect of her day is look into and if possible, covered. This was noticed not even a month into her stay when being visited they found mom in the dining hall and as they watched her through the window as she sat chatting with the same group of table mate friends, they knew she was fitting right in. However days can be good and bad, even these were taken care of by the staff in a professional way.
If you have to place a loved one in a nursing facility or assisted living facility (ALF) know that for most it is the best thing that you can do for your loved one. If you come this far I’m sure you have done the research. This is not true just for those with Alzheimer’s but for all parents or loved one needing a little extra care, they can all benefit from a SNF or ALF type setting. The author continues with additional information on Alzheimer’s and the differences in the amount of care that is required for an older adult and one with Alzheimer’s. As you can see those that were involved with this study that are in the “Other Older People” all show a pretty high level of need in one area or another, and those with Alzheimer’s were needing considerably more care. “Ages of the participants were not listed.”
Help needed with specific activities
People w/ Alzheimer’s Other Older People
Getting in and out of bed 54% 42%
Dressing 40% 31%
Getting to/from the toilet 32% 26%
Bathing 31% 23%
Managing diapers and incontinence 31% 16%
Feeding 31% 14%
Went from working full time to part time 13%
Took a less demanding job 13%
Gave up working entirely 9%
Lost job benefits 8%
Saw job performance suffer to point of possible dismissal 8%
Chose early retirement 8%
Turned down a promotion 7%
In the survey you can see that a large majority of caregiver’s jobs were affected, either voluntary or non-voluntary when they took on their role as a caregiver for their loved ones or friends. While looking into a facility for Meredith “it was required that she be tested for tuberculosis, she had to be assessed as to the level of care she would require in her daily living (dressing, eating, bathing, etc.) and she had to be qualified with Medi-Cal so she could request the assisted-living waiver.’ These are just a few of the steps you may need to take to be approved. The facility may have additional requirements not listed here so check with them. Visiting hours are usually pretty relaxed depending on the amount of care your loved one needs, staff on hand or a number of other reasons. I hope this gives you a better look into skilled nursing facilities, Alzheimer’s and the different amount of care needed for someone with the ailment. I was impressed with the way the author was able to incorporate not only the issues of necessary care for a patient with Alzheimer’s but also a small look into the SNF’s and caregivers.
Richard Kreis is a Tri-Fecta caregiver, along with my wife we care for myself and Chronic Back Issues which I’ve had for 21 years. We care for my brother in-law, Robert who lives with us and who has been dealing with Epilepsy his entire life. Richard advocates for his mother who has various cardiac related issues, severe hearing loss and other medical issues. You can read about his experiences with chronic pain and dealing with his mother’s medical issue on PickYourPain.org and on Caregiving.com. He is also involved in several of Caregiving.com’s support groups and chat rooms, he also co-hosts a BlogTalkRadio.com show pertaining to caregiving. Richard is also a patient adviser, board member for intake.me which is working to improve the intake process at medical facilities. Richard has three adult children who despite them having to deal with his medical issues, he says, “They have turned out better than I’d hoped for.”
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