My father in law was diagnosed with Late Stage Alzheimer's five years ago. He and his wife have been living in independent living for the past 2-3 years.
For the most part, my FIL has been doing pretty well since his diagnosis. Definitely a decline and therefore no driving and no longer manages the money. Over the past couple of years he certainly has gotten more confused. However, in the past month, his symptoms have grown much worse. He is now very agitated and has taken to wandering in the middle of the night. Recently, he entered some other residents' apartments in the middle of the night. The facility managers don't seem overly concerned about it; however, the family is concerned that it may be time for more care.
All the family members are engaged and involved in some aspect of their care, so that is not an issue. We are just trying to figure out what would be best for him.
Does it make sense to move him to memory care now? Is there such thing as in-home memory care? Who is the right person or agency to ask him/them to be evaluated? What are the right questions to ask?
They are located in Massachusetts and we are trying to get some advice from an elder care attorney regarding their finances. One initial comment was that memory care facilities are not paid for by Medicare - that they are primarily self-pay. Is this true?
Any and all advice is welcome and appreciated. Happy to answer any questions, as well. Thank you.
I would definitely get a medication that is proven to help agitation in Alzheimer's patients.
You can put a black or dark rug in front of the door. This is supposed to look like a hole and the patient will not step on it.
You can put the child grips on the door handle. They just turn if they are not gripped properly.
What kind of activities is he involved in during the day. He should be doing things that make him tired so he will hopefully sleep through the night.
The facility has probably seen everything and that they are not concerned is a good thing. It means that he is not putting himself or others in danger.
Have you asked them what they would recommend to keep him from wandering?
How is your MIL dealing with this? Her wellbeing should be considered in what should be done with FIL. Is she wearing herself out being his caregiver? Would she do better in an environment that provides care for FIL and her by providing meals, doing laundry, housekeeping. Someone to follow him around at night and keep him busy during the day.
I commented previously about an infection, has that been eliminated as a problem?
Also, safety would be an issue, much better to be in a memory care facility in lock down.
Hugs 🤗
Well worth checking it out.
Ask the certified elder law attorney about that aspect of receiving Medicaid. They will know if he qualifies and be able to assist with the application and be able to keep mom from becoming destitute.