Is there help for elderly chronically ill with excessive clutter and bedbugs in their home?

Cs,

Have you been able to do anything yet?

YOu need to contact local/county people. I'm not sure you want to leap to adult protective, but that could be a resource as well. Some counties have formed task forces for regrettably hoarding/clutter is not unusual and neither are bedbugs which are not deemed as big a health risk as some other bugs. However they do generate potential problems, and can be spread. Treatment that is effective of the environment can be very costly so getting these other resources involved can help financially IF there is a program....you won't know unless you ask....

Get the health department and SS involved ASAP. Bedbugs are opportunistic hitchhikers and will continue to hitch a ride with those who have them in their home. Clutter gives them many places to hide and a bedbug can survive without a host for up to 2 years. They can be found in the cleanest of homes if they travel into it and find a place to hide. They will cause anemia if not treated. My mother's previous ALF had bedbugs brought into her room during covid lockdown. They tried to place the blame on my SIL and me when we did not have them. I countered that it likely came in on one of their employees or on boxes in the kitchen. They claimed my mother's room was the only room affected. The ecolab who treated for the bedbugs said it was pretty bad and it was in other rooms. It took heat treatment, chemical and powder treatment and more than two weeks before we could even go into her room. Interesting side note, the AFL refused to give me any access to the lab or report. I had a night employee who since walked out give me the heads up and I had to demand the name of the company doing the treatment. I then contacted their corporate office and they gave me the name of the tech who was in charge of the treatment. After consulting with the lab we were advised to get rid of everything soft. The dry chemical is a form of very fine silica, which is glass component. The bedbugs crawl across the chemical and it cuts them and they bleed out. Yeah gross. High heat in a dryer for clothing after treatment. And during this process I learned more about bedbugs than I ever cared to. The AFL dragged all of mom's stuff to the front porch for us to pick up and cart away. I used PPE to sort thru to salvage mom's important memories and pitched 98% of her clutter. I know, overkill, but we were moving her to another AFL and I did NOT want to bring it into her new place. Mom has rapidly progressing dementia and it did make this process a challenge. It is sooo hard to reduce the clutter of the elderly
. Please also check the state and local DOH standards. States have put all sorts of roadblocks for consumers and county by county guidelines concerning bedbugs, so social services and the adult protective service division is the better way to go.

Good luck

I went through the bedbug issue with momma in assisted living for 8 months and it was horrible! My siblings do not keep their houses clean and they were bringing over the bedbugs to mommas apartment. We spent over $7000.00 with the cleaning and replacing mattresses and such. Everytime she got them I had to drive 5 hrs to go clean it up! I had to go as far as banning everybody from the facility. I have medical poa. Brother was sneaking past front desk into her apartment - they had him on camera - and she got bedbugs again. I made the facility call my brother to clean it up because I refused to drive over their again and to send him the $450.00 pest bill! You can get sick from the bug bites and the bugs can travel from place to place.

I agree with the suggestion to contact Adult Protective Services. It appears that a very concerning level of self neglect is occurring and your elders could be at risk for harm. The aforementioned agency is responsible for the evaluation and follow-up in these types of situations. They may or may not seek guardianship. Each situation is different. In our case, they provided help and resources to ensure my mother was safe. Best wishes to you.

I agree, get the health department involved. I also would get Social Services involved with the grandson. Your parents are no longer able to care for him properly. He needs to be evaluated and placed accordingly. There are group homes. My nephew lives independently with a little overseeing from me. He has Social Security Disability and a voucher for the apart he lives in.

Where are the grandson's parents?

Contact the county health department; if they can't institute action, they know how to reach those who can.   But the threat to your parent's and the grandson's health is immediate. 

I hope the county offices can help you and your parents as soon as you contact them.  

I don't know what assistance might be available to your parents; it might depend on the financial situation.   But the county officers should be able to address this, and if not, perhaps the state does.

You might want to prepare yourself for the question by authorities of whether or not you can step in and help, especially in temporary care for them while the house is being addressed, and/or if the house can't be, what short and long term plans might exist for their residency and care.

I feel really bad for your parents; no one should have to be in this situation.

Bedbugs need to be irradiated immediately. They can cause serious issues. There are companies that can take care of it. Bedbugs can get on people and be transported to their home . You need to call social services for help. There are alot of organizations through the state and elder services.

The answer to your question depends upon whether anyone has legal authority to make decisions for them AND whether they are cognitively able to make decisions on their own behalf (or not).

If no one has PoA for them (each one individually) AND they are NOT cognitively impaired, they get to make their own decisions about how and where they live and their medical care.

If someone does have PoA for them, then this person must now check the language in their document to see when their authority is activated. If it is "durable" then no diagnosis is required. "Springing" PoA usually means 1 or 2 diagnosis of impairment is required.

If no one has PoA for either of them AND they are in dire shape, then APS can be contacted and request a wellness check for them, identifying them as vulnerable adults. APS will pursue guardianship of them and place them in facilities (there is no guarantee they will be placed in the same facility). They will then be wards of the county and the assigned guardians will manage all their financial and medical affairs and no one else will be no transparency by others, even family, BUT family will still be allowed to interact with them socially as such. Just won't be making any decisions on their behalf (but it has been my experience that guardians do seek input from family before making some decisions for their wards).

This is such a distressing situation, I wish you much success in getting help for them.