Because we need to keep costs down, I am organizing all of the in home care and piecing together care between myself, family and friends, and what my parents are willing to pay. It is almost like a full time job. Organizing their care , how to finance it, and getting them to their appointments has taken over my life, in addition to my own real job. If money is not an object, that is probably different. But the upside is allowing my parents to be in the home they have been in for 50 years, which means so much to them. I remind myself this is only a season, and I want to feel I did the best thing for them.
Finding good, reliable care can be a challenge. For my dad, I’m grateful to have struck gold on the third caregiver I interviewed. She proved to be an amazing person and was wonderful to my dad, she made a friend of a man who adamantly wanted no one in his home. I recognize how blessed we were to find such a great person
Completely different approach if the elder and the in-home care is happening in your own home, particularly with no separate ‘granny flat’. It can be like having a servant in your own rooms permanently, plus living in a railway terminus where people are coming and going all the time. The risk of theft is high, so you need to reorganise your own stuff to minimise theft risks. Your own privacy goes down the gurgler! And the discomfort is costing a fortune....
It can all depends on the support system you have and what you have to do. For some in-home care is pretty easy. For others not so much. I thought I had it easy. Although friends of mine thought otherwise. There are personal considerations to think about. What will you NOT do? and What CAN you do? Is your house set up for caregiving? Wide halls?, large bathroom that 2 or more people can be in and accomplish what needs to be done, stairs? (dangerous or impossible for someone that has to use a walker or wheelchair) carpeting? (can be difficult with walker or wheelchair)
Can you or the person you are caring for afford help? Will this be your full time job? Are you quitting a job in order to do this? (probably not a great idea) Will you get paid for caregiving? You should,.
I made the decision when my Husband was diagnosed with dementia that I would keep him home as long as it was safe to do so. By SAFETY I am mean I would keep him home as long as it was safe for HIM for me to care for him and as long as it was safe for ME to care for him. I did not want to injure him and I did not want to get hurt myself. (if that happened who would care for the 2 of us!) That was the deciding factor. Luckily I was able to keep him at home but it was through the help of the VA that allowed me to get caregivers so I could keep my sanity. (although the jury is still out on that) And I was able to care for him with the help of Hospice. Through Hospice I got all the equipment that I needed to safely care for him. And also important, I was able to care for him because he was compliant, non violent and he retained the mellow personality that he always had.
Do what you can for as long as you can. As I have said before coming to the decision to place someone in Memory Care or a Skilled Nursing facility is NOT a failure on your part but acknowledging the fact that your loved one requires more care than you can safely do yourself. You are but 1 person a SNF or MC has a staff of people that care for people that need more care.
Hard to get enough help to cover all of patient's needs. Caregivers get sick, need vacation, etc. and then you might be left in a last minute situation of needing a caregiver more quickly than is possible.
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2. Turnover
3. Abilities of caregivers vary wildly
4. Having to be the personnel manager even if you use an agency
5. Loss of privacy
i’m in the same (lucky) boat as you!!
———
we had bad caregivers (thieves, uncaring, etc).
and then i found great caregivers!!
lucky.
(not totally by chance; i searched a lot; asked people who knew people).
our caregivers are kind, fantastic, sweet — and in a very nice mood all the time. amazing.
:)
For some in-home care is pretty easy. For others not so much.
I thought I had it easy. Although friends of mine thought otherwise.
There are personal considerations to think about.
What will you NOT do? and What CAN you do?
Is your house set up for caregiving? Wide halls?, large bathroom that 2 or more people can be in and accomplish what needs to be done,
stairs? (dangerous or impossible for someone that has to use a walker or wheelchair)
carpeting? (can be difficult with walker or wheelchair)
Can you or the person you are caring for afford help?
Will this be your full time job? Are you quitting a job in order to do this? (probably not a great idea)
Will you get paid for caregiving? You should,.
I made the decision when my Husband was diagnosed with dementia that I would keep him home as long as it was safe to do so.
By SAFETY I am mean I would keep him home as long as it was safe for HIM for me to care for him and as long as it was safe for ME to care for him. I did not want to injure him and I did not want to get hurt myself. (if that happened who would care for the 2 of us!)
That was the deciding factor. Luckily I was able to keep him at home but it was through the help of the VA that allowed me to get caregivers so I could keep my sanity. (although the jury is still out on that)
And I was able to care for him with the help of Hospice. Through Hospice I got all the equipment that I needed to safely care for him.
And also important, I was able to care for him because he was compliant, non violent and he retained the mellow personality that he always had.
Do what you can for as long as you can.
As I have said before coming to the decision to place someone in Memory Care or a Skilled Nursing facility is NOT a failure on your part but acknowledging the fact that your loved one requires more care than you can safely do yourself. You are but 1 person a SNF or MC has a staff of people that care for people that need more care.
Hard to get enough help to cover all of patient's needs. Caregivers get sick, need vacation, etc. and then you might be left in a last minute situation of needing a caregiver more quickly than is possible.