I am going on three years of elder care for my father. He has struggled with many health conditions including dementia. He is currently in assisted living, and I visit him daily, five days a week, for about 1 to 2 hours per day. I am his primary caretaker, and his MPOA. Although we’ve never had him tested, I believe he has vascular dementia. His short term memory is poor, and as a result, leaving him alone without contact from me for even two or three days causes distress. This despite the fact that he is cared for 24 hours around the clock, with three full meals a day. I have very supportive family, but unfortunately no one who lives close by to be able to spend time with him when I cannot. My immediate family feels that I am spending way too much time with my dad. To me, 1 to 2 hours a day, five days a week, isn’t that much. I’m retired, and retired earlier from my job to help care for dad because I knew he was going to need help. What do you think? How much time is too much time for those of us who are caring for our loved ones?
Ideally visiting once or twice a week would be better, your father should be getting to know those in his community and interacting with them. Just my thoughts.