60+ yr old lives in awful condions and lives alone. She has allher dishes stack up on Stove etc Has not vacume
Answer:
As a caregiver I can say without reservation that the ones that said do not intervene are absolutely wrong! It's wonderful of you to care about her. Living in filth (and clutter) is not healthy and is a potential accident waiting to happen. For those who said mind you own business . how would you feel if were your mom or grandmother and she tripped over the clutter and broke her hip?? And if no one cared enough to check on her? She could lay there for days before help arrived.
I would offer to assist her with the cleaning yourself if at all possible. I would also contact Adult Protective Services ( a division of social services) and inform them of your concerns. They will send a social worker out on a check the welfare call and will council her or if needed they will help arrange for in home care or in drastic cases placement.
Best of luck to you and bless you for your concern. So many times I see elderly folks with no one in the world. It's wonderful she has people who care about her.
Sounds like you need to get in touch with Social Services and you can get that number in the phone book or call info. She needs medical attention right away. Nice of you to care.
Does SHE want help?
If she doesn't, leave her alone. As long as she gets around OK, she's fine. You're trying to make her conform to your standards. She has a right to live the way she wants. I don't see how her health is being impacted. Loose stools and dirty plates are pretty insubstantial. Hardly life threatening. She may not be living the life you want for her, but you don't have the right to tell her how to live.
If she wants help, by all means go clean her place. Talk to her pastor or rabbi and get hooked up with community services. Call social services for a referal. If she doesn't want your help, you can't force her. Do what you can and accept her as the slob she is.
call Adult Protective Services.
The dirty living conditions alone are not reason for intervention, much as you dislike them. Only if she has problems with certain activities of daily living would you be able to intervene on her behalf. These activities include bathing, dressing, eating, going to the toilet, and grooming. Occasional accidents does not mean she is not capable of using the toilet herself, but if she has any self respect she would probably want to use adult diapers or incontinence pads so she doesnt soil herself.
If she would be open to a maid service, this could be an option to keep the place at least livably clean - some maids do load dishwashers so that could take care of the dishes on the stove. Also, make sure she has a working vacuum that is not too heavy for her, or the maid could do some of the vacuuming.
If she is spending most of her time in bed, and not much time on any fun hobbies or social activities, she might be depressed. Depression is not so unusual in the elderly. She should be persuaded to see the doctor if this might be the case.
Telling someone that they shouldnt do anything to get this woman help is WRONG!!!!!! Sometimes people cant help being unclean. Because they just cant do anything about it , because of illness or age or any other number of reasons. If that was a child living in that kind of house social services would remove them from the home, How lucky she is to have you caring about her.You can get sick from bacteria on the dirty dishes and floors , not to mention that she can fall and hurt herself from all the clutter. There are a number of things you can do, you can see about getting her home health care in her home so she can have safe living conditions in her own home with help. They will help her bathe and cook and clean. There is help in paying for this , Contact your health and social services to see what can be done.ID she refuses help you can always fight dor a court order to get her help. I hope when all those people that said not to do anything need help , they have someone as loving and caring as you are. God bless
The medicine and health information post by website user , ByeDR.com not guarantee correctness , is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
More Questions and Answers...