Sometimes families choose to move their Epic Elders to an assisted living facility, memory care unit, or nursing home. The choice may come from escalated health needs, from the inability to find an effective home-health-care company, or simply from the exhaustion that comes from caring from their elders at home. No doubt, the families do their homework and research the best places for their loved ones’ needs. Still, even the best of facilities cannot match the individual care a competent home health agency can provide for their elders at home. At Flourish in Place, we strive to provide excellent care and more. Our goal is to pave the way for your elders to Flourish in their sunset years. After all, sunsets are some of the most beautiful times of the day!
If you do need to move your mother, father, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, whomever, to a facility, please remember that you need to be constantly supervising their care. Even if you are present daily, you may find serious mishaps and mishandled care.
Here are real stories from life in an assisted living facility.
From a woman whose sister lives in an ALF:
My sister called me, upset and desperate. She had been left in her room all day on a Saturday, with no dry, clean clothes. She has an advanced incontinence condition, which is the reason she lives in an assisted living facility. No one had come to her room all day to bring her any food or medication. She couldn’t go in her wet pajamas to the cafeteria, and she had nothing else to wear. She had been asking staff members about her laundry for days, but no one had returned any of her clothes. When I contacted the manager of the facility, he blamed the problem on my sister’s incontinence and the fact that she required constant sheet changes and laundry help. I reminded him that incontinence shouldn’t mean that a person be “punished” by going without food and medication.
From a woman whose mother lives in a memory care unit of an ALF:
When I visited my mother today, I found her asleep in a chair, no Depends on, her walker far away from her chair, and no sheets on her bed. On the tray nearby, there were several half-empty juice glasses and a mostly eaten dessert on a plate. All of these sugar-filled items should have been off my mom’s diet, due to her diabetes. When I entered the ALF, I saw several nurses at the nurse station, doing nothing but chatting among themselves. None of them acknowledged my presence.
From a woman whose mother lives in an ALF:
I had to give my mother a shower today because she told me, despite asking for help, no one had given her a shower for 3 days. After we got her freshened up, I went with her to dinner. She had an assigned seat at a table with residents who were basically non-verbal. Other places were available at tables with more upbeat conversation, but I was told there was no movement available after a resident was assigned to a table. My mother was slowly dying due to the lack of mental stimulation and demeaning treatment.
If you can possibly allow your Epic Elder to stay at home, please do it! If you can’t, we can work with you at the ALFs. We can be your eyes, ears, and voice at the facility, and we can help ensure that your loved one receives the best care possible. Even the best of facilities cannot be everything for everyone. Call us for help in providing the care you need to help them Flourish in Place!
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Home Health Care Services in Orlando FL, please contact the caring staff at Flourish in Place Home Care Solutions today. Proudly serving Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Brevard Counties. Call 407-845-9797.
