Different solutions work for different people. I personally do not advocate nursing homes. However, not everyone can keep their loved one with them. What has worked for us was to move mother from an elderly housing complex to a house across the street from us. In the beginning I would visit her every day or she would visit us. We prepared her meals so there was no worries about her burning down the house. As her Alzheimer's progressed, we spent more time together. A year and some months ago she fell and broke her hip. When she came home from the hospital I started sleeping in her storage room and have been there since. My family now comes over here for meals and family time, and go home whenever they want. It is not ideal, but my mother will never go to a nursing home.
When my mother was first diagnosed with Alheimer's the national average life expectancy was 5 years after diagnosis. Next month it will be 10 years since her diagnosis. I firmly believe that if we had put her in a nursing home, she would have died a long time ago. Nursing homes just cannot give patients the individual one-on-one care that my mother receives here at home. It is not easy and most of the time it is not rewarding. However, ever so often I catch a minute glimpse of my mother in there and that tiny millisecond makes all the rest of it worthwhile.
Peggy, this is a question I have been asking a lot. There seems to be a big gulf between an in-home arrangement or moving to a facility. When I was younger I did not know one senior who went into a "retirement" home. Most seniors lived with family or on their own with assistance. There is a growing trend toward "aging in place." Although it is not for everyone, I think that it is a healtier alternative to placement in a sterile environment where the staff is overworked. I am working hard to help my Mom stay in her home. She depends on us a lot, but has a caregiver come in once and awhile which gives us a little break. She has some mobility issues, but can still get around. I know that she is mentally healtier staying in her home. So I pray that we can continue this arrangement for as long as possible. She says she doesn't want to live with family...and I still do not feel comfortable with a faciilty while she is still healthy enough to live at home. Perhaps someday she will, but for now it's working PS: there are a number of "group" homes popping up. They usually keep the number of residents smaller and offer a more homelike enviroment.
When my mother was first diagnosed with Alheimer's the national average life expectancy was 5 years after diagnosis. Next month it will be 10 years since her diagnosis. I firmly believe that if we had put her in a nursing home, she would have died a long time ago. Nursing homes just cannot give patients the individual one-on-one care that my mother receives here at home. It is not easy and most of the time it is not rewarding. However, ever so often I catch a minute glimpse of my mother in there and that tiny millisecond makes all the rest of it worthwhile.
Good luck!
There is a growing trend toward "aging in place." Although it is not for everyone, I think that it is a healtier alternative to placement in a sterile environment where the staff is overworked.
I am working hard to help my Mom stay in her home. She depends on us a lot, but has a caregiver come in once and awhile which gives us a little break. She has some mobility issues, but can still get around.
I know that she is mentally healtier staying in her home. So I pray that we can continue this arrangement for as long as possible. She says she doesn't want to live with family...and I still do not feel comfortable with a faciilty while she is still healthy enough to live at home. Perhaps someday she will, but for now it's working
PS: there are a number of "group" homes popping up. They usually keep the number of residents smaller and offer a more homelike enviroment.