Has anyone hired someone to live with them or someone close to you in order to augment memory loss, where assisted living facilities aren’t a good fit?
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@AncTreat5358 My grandmother stayed in her home until the end with helpers.
We tried individuals but then you become very tied to their schedules and situations. If the person you hired is ill or out for any reason, there is no back up.
We also tried an online service that assigned nurses. There isn't the continuity of the same person which can be tough on people with memory issues. Quality also varied. Generally they can get coverage in place if needed but only if they are aware.
@astronot Thanks for sharing the experience for your grandmother. I appreciate you sharing what happened with both approaches for staffing; very helpful.
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@AncTreat5358 We didn't go that route, but this is what what my family did. Maybe this is helpful. We had a freelance caregiver who came in almost every day. She had come recommended from a family friend. We experimented with care.com and it didn't work out.
The local commission on aging arranged a "senior companion" to come visit once a week. We also arranged visits from friends and fellow parishioners. We had a core group of friends that kept an eye on her and kept us informed.
@mackensen Thank you for sharing the considerations your family made, and what worked for you. This is very helpful information for my situation!
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Has anyone hired someone to live with them or someone close to you in order to augment memory loss, where assisted living facilities aren’t a good fit? If so, I’d appreciate any insights or concerns to be aware of during the process.
Boosts for reach are always appreciated.
@AncTreat5358 We tried a nursing agency. Expensive, unmotivated staff, and one agency stole the tax withholdings. We ended up running it ourselves. We divided day and sleepover shifts between two aides and a nearby family member. We paid above going rate, above the table, handled withholdings properly, and treated the aides as knowledgeable professionals. This made the job a viable career; the aides stayed for years. Patient was cooperative, which helped a lot.
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@AncTreat5358 We tried a nursing agency. Expensive, unmotivated staff, and one agency stole the tax withholdings. We ended up running it ourselves. We divided day and sleepover shifts between two aides and a nearby family member. We paid above going rate, above the table, handled withholdings properly, and treated the aides as knowledgeable professionals. This made the job a viable career; the aides stayed for years. Patient was cooperative, which helped a lot.
@trachelipus I'm so sorry you experienced that, but am glad you found something that works for you. I can apply your experience to my situation.
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Has anyone hired someone to live with them or someone close to you in order to augment memory loss, where assisted living facilities aren’t a good fit? If so, I’d appreciate any insights or concerns to be aware of during the process.
Boosts for reach are always appreciated.
@AncTreat5358
For grandfather at the dawn of this new century, family used an agency similar to an au pair agency; brought in a Scandinavian lass working on improving her (already good) English as (nearly) 7/24 live-in monitor/assistant. [a family member would take a shift once a week to give her a day off?] This was in addition to whatever home-health services were mostly-paid by Medicare etc. -
@AncTreat5358
For grandfather at the dawn of this new century, family used an agency similar to an au pair agency; brought in a Scandinavian lass working on improving her (already good) English as (nearly) 7/24 live-in monitor/assistant. [a family member would take a shift once a week to give her a day off?] This was in addition to whatever home-health services were mostly-paid by Medicare etc.@BRicker Thanks for sharing your grandfather's experience! Very useful applicable advice for me.
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@AncTreat5358
For grandfather at the dawn of this new century, family used an agency similar to an au pair agency; brought in a Scandinavian lass working on improving her (already good) English as (nearly) 7/24 live-in monitor/assistant. [a family member would take a shift once a week to give her a day off?] This was in addition to whatever home-health services were mostly-paid by Medicare etc.@AncTreat5358
for Dad a couple years ago, approval discharge to home-hospice required a non-medical attendant. A local medical services agency (spinoff of local hospital) provided 7/24 in rotating shifts. It wasn't cheap, and neither Medicare or LTC insurance covered it (although LTC may eventually have agreed to pay some?) which was a cash-flow bite (was it $10k/mo payable in advance? which for ~700 hrs/mo isn't much pay for those folks?). The visiting nurse was covered and they were excellent -
@AncTreat5358
for Dad a couple years ago, approval discharge to home-hospice required a non-medical attendant. A local medical services agency (spinoff of local hospital) provided 7/24 in rotating shifts. It wasn't cheap, and neither Medicare or LTC insurance covered it (although LTC may eventually have agreed to pay some?) which was a cash-flow bite (was it $10k/mo payable in advance? which for ~700 hrs/mo isn't much pay for those folks?). The visiting nurse was covered and they were excellent@BRicker Thanks for the cautionary tale experience.
Yes, it does sound like the folks were rather underpaid for their efforts.
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@AncTreat5358
for Dad a couple years ago, approval discharge to home-hospice required a non-medical attendant. A local medical services agency (spinoff of local hospital) provided 7/24 in rotating shifts. It wasn't cheap, and neither Medicare or LTC insurance covered it (although LTC may eventually have agreed to pay some?) which was a cash-flow bite (was it $10k/mo payable in advance? which for ~700 hrs/mo isn't much pay for those folks?). The visiting nurse was covered and they were excellent@AncTreat5358
But for Dad, that was terminal hospice, non-ambulatory, not memory-loss keep-out-of-trouble. Grandfather's is more relevant as I understand it. -
@BRicker Thanks for the cautionary tale experience.
Yes, it does sound like the folks were rather underpaid for their efforts.
@AncTreat5358 Given prevailing wage for cashiers in that rural state, get $15/hr for mostly sitting down and doing your knitting/crosswords, on standby to be available and observant, and only occasionally changing an adult diaper is a step up the ladder. Sad but true.
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@BRicker Thanks for sharing your grandfather's experience! Very useful applicable advice for me.
@AncTreat5358
(He quietly enjoyed having a stunning blond minder.) -
@AncTreat5358 My grandmother stayed in her home until the end with helpers.
We tried individuals but then you become very tied to their schedules and situations. If the person you hired is ill or out for any reason, there is no back up.
We also tried an online service that assigned nurses. There isn't the continuity of the same person which can be tough on people with memory issues. Quality also varied. Generally they can get coverage in place if needed but only if they are aware.
@AncTreat5358 No call No show was an issue either way. A patient with memory issues can't tell you if no one showed.
My grandmother fell doing laundry and wasn't able to tell us how long she'd been trapped under the laundry basket.
So we had to go from drop ins to round the clock care for her safety. That way there was always a handoff and someone to call us if no one showed.
As others mentioned providing full time care is expensive if you pay the reasonable rates needed for quality.
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@AncTreat5358 No call No show was an issue either way. A patient with memory issues can't tell you if no one showed.
My grandmother fell doing laundry and wasn't able to tell us how long she'd been trapped under the laundry basket.
So we had to go from drop ins to round the clock care for her safety. That way there was always a handoff and someone to call us if no one showed.
As others mentioned providing full time care is expensive if you pay the reasonable rates needed for quality.
@astronot Thank you; that’s certainly something to keep in mind as I progress.
Thanks also for setting the expectation the cost will be high to do reasonable pay.
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