When he falls it's almost impossible to pick him up. He has long term health insurance that pays for people to stay 24 hrs/day but we are worried if he falls, the caregiver would not be able to pick him up. What should we do?
How about a local nursing home? He should really be someplace where he can be a "two person assist"; and those two people would also have a Hoyer lift to help save their backs.
How often does he fall? If it is not likely to happen and you are just worrying, the caregiver could always call EMS to assist, in fact it would be a good idea anyway to make sure he hasn't been injured. If he is falling all the time then you really should be looking at the root causes and working towards eliminating them, picking someone off the floor is eventually going to injure the caregivers and the falls could eventually lead to serious injury to him.
I understand money is a concern, but I know Dad’s safety is as well. My husband is around 325 lbs. When he has to be 9-1-1ed to the hospital, it takes at least 4 large firemedics to get him off the floor and onto a stretcher. His rehab would call in help as well and they used an electric Hoyer lift.
Using one caregiver at home would not be safe for the c.g. Or your dad.
Markevens, you are right, one caregiver could not help your Dad from a fall. Unless a Caregiving Agency has male caregivers who could do the heavy lifting, chances are the Agency wouldn't be able to fill the request with 2 or 3 male caregivers, one for each shift. One caregiver usually isn't allowed to work over a certain number of hours each day.
As Barb above had said, your Dad would need to stay in a nursing home, or possibly an Assisted Living that has respite temporary care. Unfortunately, your request is limited to those two places.
thank you for all your answers. just found out, at the hospital last night FIL is hypoglycemic (sugar was 56). might be a reason for his weakness over the past 3 weeks, although his sugar is usually in the 100-120 range. his falls can be bad, just fractured a rib about 6 weeks ago. his falls are usually him trying to do something he shouldn't. has far as money for a nursing home, he is the one who wouldn't want to pay extra for it. he would expect us to pay for it even though he has plenty of money in the bank.
See if the doctor or see an integrative Doc who can remove the diabetic medication as i did for my dad and he is never weak again or dizzy. Introduce him to meals which have more complex carbohydrates or possibly very little carbohydrates which got my fathers A1C from 9.3 to 6.2 in a few months. You can achieve this in a few days as well but with guidance from a nutritionist or geriatrician otherwise get educated on reversing diabetes 2. He has no more statins, no more blood pressure meds, no more diabetic meds except on an as needed basis when he goes to the senior center and eats the FDA food, and no macular degeneration and feet are great. Morning blood sugar is around 120-150 which is totally fine. Even if it reaches 180 it is ok. Keep in mind that 3 MD's said different things regarding these results. Educate yourself because it is good to know for your own health and that of your family in the future.
Using one caregiver at home would not be safe for the c.g. Or your dad.
As Barb above had said, your Dad would need to stay in a nursing home, or possibly an Assisted Living that has respite temporary care. Unfortunately, your request is limited to those two places.