Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
General Discussions
The Watercooler
Monitoring services
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="susiestar" data-source="post: 498369" data-attributes="member: 1233"><p>If at all possible, be sure that carbon monoxide monitoring is included. My great aunt resisted moving out of her home and honestly, for her it was because she was overly frugal. Some may laugh at ME saying someone is overly frugal, but GA took it to dangerous lengths including putting paper towels over the burners on the stove so the pilot light warmth would dry them and she could re-use them. One the last visit my mother made (we live several hundred miles away so mom couldn't visit often) we discovered she was also doing this with her depends - AFTER she cut them into smaller pieces so they were not "wasteful". EEEUUUWW is one of the things we had to say about that.</p><p></p><p>She was found to have high levels of carbon monoxide by a caregiver who stopped in shortly after that last trip. GA had bright red lips, was disoriented, had a headache and caregiver didn't know it was carbon monoxide but felt odd after being in the home a while. She called 911 and apparently they survived because CO is heavy and it sunk to the basement (Thank God!)</p><p></p><p>Anyway, the more the dementia took over, the more bizarre "reuse" of items appeared and these set up many unsafe situations. GA did have monitoring put in after the CO scare and it was a huge relief for my mom and aunt. She fought them about it because the "wasteful" fees, but they are WELL worth the money.</p><p></p><p>You should also look into meal programs for seniors. My aunt had meals delivered once a week - each one was prepared with heating instructions and was well balanced and varied so that it was healthy. The service worked with her doctor and was able to accommodate ANY dietary needs from low sodium to easy to chew to gluten-free, casein-free and even vegan. A doctor's orders for the type of diet was required and the service contacted the doctor every month by fax to verify that there were no changes. It might sound odd to think of the dietician contacting the dr each month, but things can change rapidly with elderly people and often dietary issues/needs can get lost in the shuffle during a dr appointment, esp if medications have to be discussed. This way the family/caregiver didn't have to get orders to change the diet from the dr and send them to the dietician. Taking that middleman out made changes easier and kept some of the elderly from "adjusting" things themselves and ending up creating real problems.</p><p></p><p>I don't know if you have thought about assisted living centers, but they can be wonderful. Back in the 80s my Grandma was convinced to move into one in her area in FL. Gpa died a couple of years before and she wasn't caring for herself well. Her friends helped, and there were services to help, but she just was really isolated in her home. We are certain that the move to assisted living added years to her life and made those years happy, healthy, socially involved years. I have AWESOME memories of the times I went to visit her there. I had my own little studio apartment and it was a LOT of fun. She could have as much or as little involvement with others as she wanted, they had LOTS of activities and classes going on, they took all sorts of trips, etc... I will NEVER forget the night we went out for chinese food. Little old men and women can be quite bawdy, and we laughed so hard. Then at the checkout they had boxes of x-rated fortune cookies for sale. After we went back to the center, we were all talking in my Gma's sitting room (she had a separate bedroom and sitting room/kitchen at the time) and they made me go stand in the hall while they opened the x-rated fortune cookies!!! I stayed in the hall because it was cool to hear them laughing so hard. I really got to see people in that stage of life as people, not just as "old", which has let ME approach aging far more positively than most people I know. </p><p></p><p>If assisted living isn't right for her, that is OK. Just be sure that there are lots of opportunities to be with other poeple. So often we think of how important it is for kids to have social experiences but we don't so much think of that at the other end of our lives. The alzheimer's day facility might be a great thing for her. If she doesn't need their services, it might be interesting to her to volunteer there. No matter what the problems, keeping your brain active will keep it working. Did you know that some alzheimers and seniors centers here strongly suggest using Nintendo Ds with BrainAge and other thinking/drawing type games? It helps keep the brain working and in some cases can work with other treatments to bring back some functions at least for a while. I stopped to drop some stuff off at a local nursing home and was surprised to see several of the residents playing on Nintendo DS systems. Just a thought.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="susiestar, post: 498369, member: 1233"] If at all possible, be sure that carbon monoxide monitoring is included. My great aunt resisted moving out of her home and honestly, for her it was because she was overly frugal. Some may laugh at ME saying someone is overly frugal, but GA took it to dangerous lengths including putting paper towels over the burners on the stove so the pilot light warmth would dry them and she could re-use them. One the last visit my mother made (we live several hundred miles away so mom couldn't visit often) we discovered she was also doing this with her depends - AFTER she cut them into smaller pieces so they were not "wasteful". EEEUUUWW is one of the things we had to say about that. She was found to have high levels of carbon monoxide by a caregiver who stopped in shortly after that last trip. GA had bright red lips, was disoriented, had a headache and caregiver didn't know it was carbon monoxide but felt odd after being in the home a while. She called 911 and apparently they survived because CO is heavy and it sunk to the basement (Thank God!) Anyway, the more the dementia took over, the more bizarre "reuse" of items appeared and these set up many unsafe situations. GA did have monitoring put in after the CO scare and it was a huge relief for my mom and aunt. She fought them about it because the "wasteful" fees, but they are WELL worth the money. You should also look into meal programs for seniors. My aunt had meals delivered once a week - each one was prepared with heating instructions and was well balanced and varied so that it was healthy. The service worked with her doctor and was able to accommodate ANY dietary needs from low sodium to easy to chew to gluten-free, casein-free and even vegan. A doctor's orders for the type of diet was required and the service contacted the doctor every month by fax to verify that there were no changes. It might sound odd to think of the dietician contacting the dr each month, but things can change rapidly with elderly people and often dietary issues/needs can get lost in the shuffle during a dr appointment, esp if medications have to be discussed. This way the family/caregiver didn't have to get orders to change the diet from the dr and send them to the dietician. Taking that middleman out made changes easier and kept some of the elderly from "adjusting" things themselves and ending up creating real problems. I don't know if you have thought about assisted living centers, but they can be wonderful. Back in the 80s my Grandma was convinced to move into one in her area in FL. Gpa died a couple of years before and she wasn't caring for herself well. Her friends helped, and there were services to help, but she just was really isolated in her home. We are certain that the move to assisted living added years to her life and made those years happy, healthy, socially involved years. I have AWESOME memories of the times I went to visit her there. I had my own little studio apartment and it was a LOT of fun. She could have as much or as little involvement with others as she wanted, they had LOTS of activities and classes going on, they took all sorts of trips, etc... I will NEVER forget the night we went out for chinese food. Little old men and women can be quite bawdy, and we laughed so hard. Then at the checkout they had boxes of x-rated fortune cookies for sale. After we went back to the center, we were all talking in my Gma's sitting room (she had a separate bedroom and sitting room/kitchen at the time) and they made me go stand in the hall while they opened the x-rated fortune cookies!!! I stayed in the hall because it was cool to hear them laughing so hard. I really got to see people in that stage of life as people, not just as "old", which has let ME approach aging far more positively than most people I know. If assisted living isn't right for her, that is OK. Just be sure that there are lots of opportunities to be with other poeple. So often we think of how important it is for kids to have social experiences but we don't so much think of that at the other end of our lives. The alzheimer's day facility might be a great thing for her. If she doesn't need their services, it might be interesting to her to volunteer there. No matter what the problems, keeping your brain active will keep it working. Did you know that some alzheimers and seniors centers here strongly suggest using Nintendo Ds with BrainAge and other thinking/drawing type games? It helps keep the brain working and in some cases can work with other treatments to bring back some functions at least for a while. I stopped to drop some stuff off at a local nursing home and was surprised to see several of the residents playing on Nintendo DS systems. Just a thought. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
General Discussions
The Watercooler
Monitoring services
Top