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We Hired An In-Home Caregiver
In my last post I shared that Gladys’ adult day care had given us notice that they would no longer be able to accommodate her and I began looking for in-home care. We use the services of Hospice Advantage who had assigned us a social worker, Stephanie. When I told her about our situation, she sent me a list of agencies and private sitters. The agencies were just too expensive for us so I started calling the private sitters on the list.
I was very impressed with one of the sitters, Tami. I called her on Wednesday, checked her references on Thursday and interviewed her at my home on Saturday. Fred and I both like her. I also checked with Stephanie and asked how the private sitter list was comprised. It turns out that when Stephanie visits her hospice clients, she observes how the caregivers interact with their patients. If Stephanie is impressed, she adds them to her list.
We Hired Tami
We hired Tami. Today is the end of her third week with us and so far we are very pleased. Before we hired Tami, I called both of our daughters and told them about her background and her references. My oldest daughter Nichole, was concerned that she had only worked for two of the families for 4 months and 8 months. She wanted to know why “she couldn’t keep a job.” I told Nichole that her tenure with those families was short because the patients had died. Nichole was alarmed and said, “You don’t want to hire her, she might kill Aunt Gladys too.” I told Nichole to relax. Tami had primarily been a live-in caregiver who cared for terminally ill patients.
We Made An Agreement
An Internet search provided several contract samples. I used a contract from Agis.com and modified it to suit my needs. Tami works three days a week. In addition to routine caregiver duties she coaches Gladys through her physical therapy exercises and when the weather is pleasant, Tami puts Gladys in her wheel chair and walks her around the subdivision.
So far, we are very pleased with Tami. Gladys is receiving good care and we are comfortable having her in our home. More Updates later.
Related Posts: The Ever Changing Life of A Family Caregiver
The Ever Changing Life of A Family Caregiver
It’s been a month or so since I posted here and a lot has happened. Life in general is full of change and unexpected occurrences. Those of us who take care of family members with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia are very familiar with change. We’ve had a full schedule recently – car problems, job issues and most importantly caregiver issues. We have to find new care options for Gladys.
Car Issues
We all know that car problems occur when we least expect them or are the least prepared to pay for them. Over the past two months we had the key problem that I talked about in the previous post. That problem was more frustrating than anything and unreasonably expensive. Just before the key problem we had to replace the front struts. Now it’s the catalytic converter.
Job Issues
A lot has been going on at the church. Recent staff changes has caused all of us to pitch in more to make sure things don’t fall through the cracks.
Caregiver Issues
Last month Gladys’ adult day care told me that they didn’t think they would be able to accommodate Gladys much longer. She was beginning to require too much care.
- she needs help sitting down and getting up
- she needs help going to the bathroom and adjusting her clothes
- she’s getting confused at mealtime and forgets how to use her utensils or thinks her banana is a fork
- she’s moving extremely slow
- she’s not participating in activities because she keeps falling asleep
Last week the day care called and said that April 30th would have to be Gladys’ last day.
When I got the first call, I began to explore our care options and possible funding assistance. Unfortunately, her income just meets the cut off amount to qualify for assistance.
Hospice Help
About nine months ago I met a young lady from Hospice Advantage who told me to contact her if I ever needed any help. Like so many other people, I thought hospice only took care of people who were dying. Not So! I contacted the young lady, told her my situation. This is what happened:
- a nurse came out to evaluate Gladys (she qualified for services)
- a nurse visits twice a week to check Gladys’ vitals and her overall condition
- a home health aid comes by three times a week to bathe, dress and groom Gladys
- they supply her disposable briefs, disposable underpads, perineal wash, dry skin cream and some of her medications
- a social worker was assigned to assist us
- we have access to an on-call nurse 24 hours/day
- they provide 5 days of respite care per quarter
- gave us a list of recommended agencies and private caregivers
The services offered by hospice don’t resolve daily care issues but the services they provide are a big help and free up some finances.
Care options
- Quit my job and take care of Gladys full-time
- Hire an unemployed friend or church member to take care of Gladys
- Employ the services of an agency that provides CNA’s and trained caregivers
- Employ the services of an independent CNA or trained caregiver
Here’s where we are with care options: 1) I need my job; 2) hiring a friend or church member may not work out and potentially damage relationships; 3) agencies offer a good service but are too expensive (for us) for long term care. That brings us to 4) employ an independent caregiver.
I went through the list provided by hospice and called for rates. I contacted the agencies and the private sitters. I was very impressed with one of the private sitters and contacted her references. She is primarily a live-in hospice caregiver but I am only looking for 3 days per week. Her previous clients gave her outstanding recommendations.
We will interview her this afternoon. I’ll keep you posted.
It’s A Family Affair
It’s been almost two years since we started taking care of Gladys. We have had our share of good days and bad days. We’ve had many moments of laughter and times when we just wanted to scream. The one thing that has been consistent in our caregiving is teamwork. It’s something that I cherish and it’s something that I’m well aware that some families don’t have when it comes to taking care of elderly family members.
Our normal morning routine is: I wake Gladys up, get her showered, dressed and hair combed. Fred prepares her breakfast, takes it to her room, gives Gladys her morning medicine and then her breakfast. The routine isn’t perfect because sometimes we disagree on what he prepares or the amount of food he gives Gladys. Sometimes I want him to give her yogurt with her breakfast but since he doesn’t like yogurt, he won’t give it to Gladys either. So we have basically come to an agreement – if he feeds her, I can’t tell him what to do. So yogurt usually ends up being one of her snacks or she’ll get yogurt when I fix her breakfast, which is usually once or twice a week.
Gladys has a good appetite and looks forward to every meal. On Saturdays she often gets one of her favorite meals – cinnamon, raisin bagels, cream cheese, coffee and yogurt. When she sees the bagel she starts singing the Campbell Soup song, “mmm, mmm, good.” Breakfast today was oatmeal, prunes and a glass of milk. I thought she had too many prunes but I didn’t say anything. I thought about slipping a few of them out of the bowl but I didn’t. 
