My grandma has been on a steep decline ever since her husband died in 2020. Before his death she had never lived by herself in her 81 years of life, so it was an adjustmant. Within the last year, we moved her into assisted living. Before the move she was very anxious and scared when she was alone. One time, she called the cops once to her apartment, a few months after he died, fearing someone was breaking in, but she never called them again. The anxiety never went away. It was especially bad the first few months being in a new place. Now in the past 2 months she has called them twice from her assisted living place and has threatened to call them multiple other times, claiming that people are breaking into her house and are going to set it on fire. We took her phone, on the advice of the assisted living staff, to try and prevent the calls but it made her even more anxious and upset, since now she can't reach my mom or I easily. I guess I'm just looking for any advice. If we give her the phone back and she calls again the responders are understandably going to be upset, but if we keep the phone away from her shes a total mess.
The test is fairly easy if Grandma cooperates. If the test comes back positive, the infection can be treated with antibiotics.
At this moment, all you need is to purchase a call blocker device that will prevent grandma from being able to dial 911 in the first place:
https://www.amazon.com/911-Call-Blocker-Restrict-Outgoing/dp/B00C81AIHY
I strongly believe all elders should have a phone when they're in managed care bc it's their ONLY LINK to the outside world and the only way they have to contact loved ones.
My mother lived in Memory Care Assisted Living for nearly 3 years and her landline phone was plugged in the entire time. Even when she couldn't use it anymore, she could still GET calls. Or she'd ask one of "her girls" to call me to chat.
Good luck to you.
We used the psychiatric practice that served my LO’s Assisted Living/Memory Care facility and she was a lovely peaceful respectful woman who saw LO every few months after her initial assessment and subsequently placing LO on the requested “low dose”.
It meant almost 2 good years of life (before COVID) and I will ALWAYS be grateful for having been able to arrange them for LO.
I absolutely agree with you- I was so upset myself that my LO was suffering. Addressing the anxiety directly was a blessing both for LO and me.
A low dose of anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medication can make a huge difference in her quality of life.
Now as to how long Mom can do assisted living, that is another question. The deterioration that comes rapidly after such a loss is not unusual at all. She may require memory care in the near future. I don't know if this facility is one that has a sort of "inbetween" facility which is lower in cost, but a bit better staffed and safer for those who are having anxiety and confusion.
I would also discuss with the doctor. Unaddressed anxiety is becoming "all the thing" now with AARP noting in recent paper that doctors are being encouraged now to speak about "anxiety" with elderly patients. It is a huge contributor to mental deterioration.