My sister will pick my mother up for appointments and church to transport her and mom has four stairs to descend and especially now that the weather is getting frosty the steps can ice up. My sister has to come up on the porch to get my mother's walker to load into the car but then my sister proceeds to get into the car and lets my mother descend the stairs alone without supervision. Mom is always carrying a purse in one hand and is very unsteady. I have addressed this with my sister numerous times even as recently as five days ago. Yesterday I was visiting my mother, my sister picked her up for church, my sister got the walker, got back into the car and, once again did not supervise mom. I stayed back a few seconds to see if she would since I had just addressed it but when I saw her get back into her car I quickly went out and spotted mom on the steps. I am at my wits end since I live over an hour away and my sister lives five minutes from mom and does most of the transporting. My sister just doesn't get it. Do I go ballistic on her to get the point across or wait and let something happen?
My DH is on a walker and I don't put it into the car until after his butt is in the seat. And this is totally flat ground - not steps. He uses the walker to backup to the car-seat.
The only thing I can think of is your sister resents having to take your mother places. It sounds like resentment to me.
Do you have any idea why she behaves this way?
Denial that Mom needs help?
Resenting you trying to tell her what to do?
Forgetfulness? (Does Sis have memory issues?)
Laziness?
Secret/subconscious wishes that Mom would fall?
Figuring out why she is doing this MIGHT help you figure out how to approach it.
I wonder if she would receive the message better from someone else. Since many of the trips are to church, perhaps you could talk privately with the pastor, and he or she could have a conversation with Sis, thanking her for her help etc. How would the topic of supervision of stairs come up? I don't know, but pastors are typically good at that sort of thing.
Does Sis go into Mom's medical appointments with her? Wouldn't it be good if the doctor or a nurse would tell Mom that she should have someone accompany here on outdoor journeys now that the weather is often frosty? And that she should especially have someone with her when she uses outdoor steps.
Would Sis listen to Mom? Is Mom able to remember and to ask Sis each time if she will stay with her down the steps?
Would Sis have room in her car to carry a walker all the time? (She doesn't haul a team of young hockey players around, for example.) You could purchase a second-hand walker similar to what your mom normally uses and Sis could keep it in her car. Then she would only have to make one trip to the car and presumably would make it with Mom.
This is really a frustrating situation, since the solution is so easy. Sis stays with Mom down the steps. No Big Deal. But bringing it about isn't so simple.
Good luck to you. If you come up with something that works, please share with us. We learn from each other!
I'm wondering if sis is blanking it because she doesn't actually know, when it comes down to it, what she's supposed to do? And maybe mother shoos her off because having somebody incompetent grabbing hold of you is worse than nothing? There is a further point there, because if Sister just stands next to your mother like a lamb chop then she isn't going to support your mother properly or save her if she should slip or trip, God forbid.
I'd suggest getting some quick PT input - maybe for both of you, then you could set her a good example - to learn proper techniques for supporting people sitting-to-standing, standing-to-sitting, walking and on stairs. And maybe throw in getting into and out of a car, for good measure. If you don't happen to know any friendly physical therapists... you can probably find demonstration clips on YouTube or something like that.
As Jeanne said above, even in the early stages of dementia, folks are not really safe living by themselves. It sounds as though there needs to be a new plan for Mom.
And it sounds as though sister can no longer be counted on as part of that plan.
There is also a useful video on how to do this -- probably more than one. The one I looked at is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWAuhtqTQyM It is on youtube, in a series called Caregiver/Family Training, an episode called Stairs.
I had our outdoor stairs replaces by a sloping sidewalk. That is an expensive solution, but a very practical one. My husband could use his walker all the way to the car.
Work on building a cooperative, respectful relationship with your sis. Nothing worse than being the primary caregiver and having a sibling that does not help much tell you that something is being done incorrectly.
At church, you be the standby for mom. Help her up to sit with the choir and then back to her seat. Why aren't you sitting with her if she needs help? Always be ready to help where and when you can.
See All Answers