Mom lives with me and is pretty mobile but has Alzheimer's and cannot be trusted to eat or take medications. She is 87 and I would need some one to check in on her and make a meal or two for no more than a week at a time. I have some relatives and friends that can help so really need only a couple hours a day.
Need to find check in type care for parent while I am away for a week long trip. Money is an issue. Thanks.
Since your Mom has Alzheimer's and cannot be trusted to eat or take medications, sounds like she would need much more than a couple of hours a day of care. When someone is in their late 80's, falls start to happen. What if she falls at night and no one is scheduled to check on her until 8 in the morning? Or your Mom decides to go looking for you and wanders outside? Or is that where your relatives and friends help out by staying with Mom overnight?
Some Independent/Assistant living facilities offer temporary care, but your Mom would need to go to the facility, and the cost might be expensive, but you would know she is safe 24 hours a day.
Comfort Keepers offers different options for care, ranging from 2 hrs/ day through live-in help. We had live-in help for Mom… cooking, keeping Mom clean and fed (this is where I had issues with the success… Mom went from 96# to 92#), keeping an eye on her, general company and safety. They first came into Mom's home to assess her situation in order to pair her with a caregiver. With a little more time my brother could have chosen between several caregivers that he could have interviewed. As he left it, the caregiver moved in the day before the two of them left, sight unseen before then! NOT my choice of how to do it, but I'm not "in the trenches" and they needed to get away.
I made two scheduled, and two surprise visits while they were gone. I wish I had put a security camera in place before the caregiver moved in. I don't think she mistreated Mom at ALL, but I wanted to see how they handled their time together without me being there. I suspect the caregiver did the bare minimum.
That being said… Mom ate. Mom took her medicine. Mom stayed safely home. Someone was there if she fell. Someone was there when someone came to the door. IT WAS WORTH IT, even if the caregiver was not exactly what I would have chosen.
Mom was very confused by this Jamaican stranger. We just told her that the caregiver was a relative of my sis-in-law that was staying with her at SIL's invitation. She accepted that… every time we had to tell her… every time she saw her again… Gotta love Alzheimer's!
Good luck.
Yes, there are services available to you for FREE to care for your mom while you are away. They take complete care of her, no matter how much or how little care she needs. Some states have a sliding scale, depending on what you/she can pay.
Contact your local Agency Area on Aging... and you will have to ASK for this program, as they don't readily volunteer it. In Michigan for example, you can obtain up to 2 weeks off at a time, twice a year (4 weeks total per year).
You are free to go on vacation... or anything you wish.
Go to the website www.n4a.org, and put in the informaton to contact your local agency. Ask for the Out-of-Home Respite ... (may be called different names in different states or counties),,,,
Hope this helps! Camille
See All Answers