“My Mom’s health has been declining steadily over the past year, in fact we’ve been here in the ER two times this month alone!”
All too often families try the best they can patching care for their parents together as they too lead busy productive lives. It isn’t until red flags begin to go off in the ER for the social workers thinking this family is in crisis and needs a Concierge Care Advisor to explain safe next steps.
This is how I met the Morgan family. Mom and Dad had been married 55 beautiful years. However, over the past year Mom had a hip replacement gone wrong. She contracted MRSA causing her to have to have her entire hip socket removed and ultimately leaving her left leg limp followed by two negative experiences in skilled nursing facilities.
After asking lots of questions and carefully listening to the answers I gathered that Mom had been receiving home care from a private agency Monday through Friday from 7am until 3pm. The duties included turning Mom so that the fragile skin at the bottom of her spine didn’t open into a sore. Bathing, dressing, and other self-care activities. What wasn’t being said though was the amount of stress her 85-year old spouse was under from 3pm to 7am and on weekends.
I’ve yet to meet anyone or any family who “wants” to move. We do as much for our parents as we can, but as adult children we’re often only working off information out parents are allowing us to know.
Mom is now comfortably settling into an adult family home receiving 24-hour care by licensed professionals less than three miles away from where her healthy spouse lives independently, so that he may come daily to visit his sweetheart as much as he wants as her Husband verses the stress of being the caregiver.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
