Mom has alzheimer's, not too bad, has anyone tried home health care to help with care?
Answer:
I used home health care for a while - being a caretaker is going to run you into the ground. And, unfortunately, as Alzheimers progresses, people can get physically violent...and you probably aren't a health professional who can deal with it. Until its time to move Mom to a care facility where she is monitored and protected, get help - this is a long and horrid process for the both of you. Get ready to be angry, repetitive (she will start forgetting the easiest things like how to make coffee), you'll get frustrated and - booom - you'll need as much home health as she does. God bless you for taking care of your Mom - most people throw them into a home too early. Home health can assist with dressing, cooking and making sure she doesn't decide to go out and take a walk because she might not remember how to get back. Don't laugh - but put a hanging bell on all the doors that lead outside so that if, in the middle of the night she decides to go out (they have no consciouness of time after a while), the movement of the bells will awaken you and/or the home health aide and you can keep her safe. Been there - done that - and at the end (12 years after being diagnosed), I had forgotten to take care of "me" while being a caretaker and wound up with pneumonia from the exhaustion and forgetting to eat...God bless you and your family. Keep close tabs on what she knows and does not know and, although it will be the toughest thing you've ever done, start looking for Alzheimers homes for when time comes to move her - I cried for a week after putting my Dad there - but, he adjusted really well and didn't recognize me as his daughter anymore - but he used to love the visits.he even wanted to know if "my Dad fought in WWII" because "he" had.this is the most hidious disease in the world because the less the patient knows, the harder it becomes on the people around. I wish you and Mom the best of luck..
I worked in a Alzheimer's ward at a nursing home. Home care is difficult, the person sometimes tends to just walk away from the house, and there are too many things (stoves, etc) that they can accidentally hurt themselves on. You need to be vigilant 24 hours a day.
My grandmother had alzheimers. In the early stages she will be semi-ok with home help, however later on down the road, you are going to need to get her special care in a nursing home or somewhere like that.
Hello 'redford' :
You should let Answerers know which country you live in.
I 'm in Canada;
My Mom is 82 yrs. and she 's the healthy one in the marriage.
My step-father is 68 and he 's already had a big cancer operation and, later on, a stroke.
Because my Mom is small in stature, she can 't physically help her husband with typical personal cleansing. He cannot get himself in and out of a bathtub.
So, here, we have Green Shield.
They pay for a nurse to come around once a week and give him a bath, a physical check-up and small services like cutting toe-nails.
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