Are you sure you want to exit? Your progress will be lost.
Who are you caring for?
Which best describes their mobility?
How well are they maintaining their hygiene?
How are they managing their medications?
Does their living environment pose any safety concerns?
Fall risks, spoiled food, or other threats to wellbeing
Are they experiencing any memory loss?
Which best describes your loved one's social life?
Acknowledgment of Disclosures and Authorization
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
✔
I acknowledge and authorize
✔
I consent to the collection of my consumer health data.*
✔
I consent to the sharing of my consumer health data with qualified home care agencies.*
*If I am consenting on behalf of someone else, I have the proper authorization to do so. By clicking Get My Results, you agree to our Privacy Policy. You also consent to receive calls and texts, which may be autodialed, from us and our customer communities. Your consent is not a condition to using our service. Please visit our Terms of Use. for information about our privacy practices.
Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
Remember, this assessment is not a substitute for professional advice.
Share a few details and we will match you to trusted home care in your area:
Frustrating when people pose a question, and never comment back...so many people offer their heartfelt advice and stories, and nothing from the author.
My mother never had a big appetite. As she aged, she ate less and les. She was very thin. She couldn’t eat a lot of food at one time. She nibbled here and there.
My mother seemed to do better with drinking than eating. She actually told me once that she only ate because she knew that she had to. She claimed that she was hardly ever hungry.
Most people will lose their appetite as they get older. If she can have treats bring her ice cream or other high calorie foods.
Not ideal but when my father stopped eating I bought him those meal in a drink with vitamins the small bottles I later found out my father had tooth denture issues but didn’t say which made things easy! (Not!) so check there isn’t anything physically wrong first overall as elderly decline I read it’s a natural progression this not eating malarkey! I switched to small very soft meals that didn’t need chewing or could give issues swallowing and I stood by him talking as he was made to finish the drink its not easy maybe you eating at the same time and acting like you’re not monitoring may help and check out issues with chewing and swallowing tho as well good luck /stay strong
My mother was refusing meds & food, drink last summer when Dr put her on appetite stimulant meds . After that she ate , drank & gained back lost weight.
If you are in charge of her care, take her to ER for admission. If you are not in charge of her care, talk to the person who is - so he/she will take her to ER for admission. If she is in final stages of her dementia, this is understandable behavior. However, this behavior will lead to death if extended.
What is the freaking problem with letting her pass with dignity ? Do Not go crazy on the ER admissions; those are for people who are otherwise healthy and will probably live. Dying happens; yes it does and there is no way to prevent that. OmG why is this society all caught up in keeping someone alive at any cost? Is the loved one on benefits that stop when he/she is deceased? I have seen this happen and it's disgusting.
The only advice I can give is for you to find a way to accept the situation.
That's difficult because we want to do as much as we can and it feels like neglect when we can't persuade our loved ones to eat. However, your mum (like mine) is in decline. There is no getting better.
My mum stopped eating properly after a stroke. Now, 13 years later, with vascular dementia, my mum rarely eats at all. Some days she'll eat an ice cream lolly, or half a toasted teacake, but mostly she eats nothing all day.
Mum will reluctantly drink the supplement milkshakes, and she's still swallowing her many tablets, but it's getting more difficult for her to do so. She sleeps most of the time and it's a real effort for her to take notice of what's going on around her.
That's no life.
When my mum finally refuses to swallow the milkshakes (she hates them) and/or her tablets, I will know that she will soon be leaving us. I'm not going to force her to swallow, or give her them another way, and I'm trying to get her husband on the same page.
I want my mum to go as peacefully as possible, and for her to have as dignified an end as possible.
Both of my parents lost weight, refused medicines, then food, shortly thereafter..They were ready to move on to their next chapter.🕊️🕊️ Hospice taught me how end of life unfolds peacefully..I miss my Mom & Dad, but know they are in a better place & whole again.❤️😇
After 27 yrs working in dementia and nursing homes as the nutrition counselor..I realize stopping eating and refusing meds is how our elderly are saying..I AM DONE! I plan to step back and let my mom choose when to go! She is in year 6 of Lewy Body dementia. P.S, Living in some family homes where neglect and anger reside is way worse than being in a loving AL, MC or nursing home!
Sadinroanokeva, Not all family homes are filled with anger and neglect. But the caregiver must also have respite time. This is a more than full time 24/7 job. It’s a major commitment putting everything else like vacation, full time work, on hold. It’s not for everyone & you have to get a financial & caregiver plan. As a side note, imho, I don’t think these facilities are loving. They get paid & it’s a job. Family doesn’t get paid & does everything anyway.
Many of these answers are spot on, you're lucky that her weight decline took so long, I've seen people come in and within a couple weeks or months they have lost lots of weight and as a consequence lose mental and physical abilities, then they are put into a wheelchair if not in one already. The end does involve not eating and more sleeping, perhaps if you went there and tried to feed her at one of her meals you'd get more of a handle on what the situation is. Most care workers, home and otherwise, are underpaid and constantly understaffed, CEOs and ladder climbers want to show they can create more profits. I'd go often and at different times to see if an effort is being put into her care or if it's nature taking it's course. I'm sorry you're going through this.
My Mother had dementia and decided to quit eating. I was told by the Nursing director it was nature way of letting go of life. She began sleeping around the clock. I would read Psalm to her. She ending up dying peacefully in her sleep just the way she always said she wanted to go home.
It's not always possible to keep them out. In a perfect world, but sadly we don't live in a perfect world. People have to work , there are tons of reasons. Everyone wishes this wasn't so, it just isn't.
jackie... With dementia people do begin to eat less. There are problems with swallowing. There are problems with chewing. Towards the end of life a person will stop eating, stop drinking. This is normal and it is not painful. As the body shuts down it does not need the nutrients the body can not process food that it would if it were fully functioning. To do a feeding tube would do more harm than good as the body could not process it.
If she is not eating because she is not on the medications that she should be most medications can be dosed as a patch, suppository or a liquid. Any of these could be administered more easily than trying to get her to take an oral medication.
What I would suggest is that you have her evaluated by Hospice. They can let you know where she is, educate you on exactly what is happening so that you have fewer concerns.
Same thing with my mom and her sister. After several months, they wither away and it is usually from their bodies not wanting to eat. One was fully intact mentally and the other had dementia. Both expressed to me that they would not be around next year or much longer and they kept their promise. Both went on hospice and lived only a few days after that. I get the sense that once on hospice, they were at peace with themselves
Is the medication Available in a patch? Maybe she could drink her nutrition in a protein shake..Sometimes loss of appetite could be end of life.Hospice can be very helpful.
When my Mom refused to take her medication, one of the nurses decided to crush the pill into chocolate ice cream, sure enough my Mom ate the ice cream/pill. Afterwards, any time I served chocolate ice cream to Mom (without the pill) she didn't like the taste. Guess the crush pill enhanced the flavor :)
Note: not all pills can be prepared this way. The pill printout should say if the pill is crushable or not.
"I am caring for my mother Deanna, who is 74 years old, living in my home with alzheimer's / dementia, anxiety, depression, diabetes, and sleep disorder."
Are you her PoA or legal guardian? If not, then I don't think you can remove her from the NH without the permission of whoever is legally managing her affairs. Not sure you even have the authority to request a doctor visit in the facility for her.
Your first discussion should be with her PoA or legal guardian. If she doesn't have one, or you are it, then the lead nurse for her floor, then the admins of the facility.
Please understand that the staff cannot legally force someone to take meds or eat. The most they can do is come up with creative ways to encourage her to do those things. But if you see her regularly and have noticed her weight loss, this is a problem. If you are just now visiting her after a year, then maybe this isn't the emergency you think it is.
People with ALZ do come to a point where they eat less and sleep more and disengage (my cousin won't open her eyes, even when she talks to you, she's very thin and in hospice care at 71).
Maybe it's time for hospice care for your Mom. But her PoA or legal guardian is the one that sets this all up.
More info about who is legally able to make decicions on her behalf would be helpful.
Agreed; some people on this message board have less than admirable intentions. Is the person asking the question squatting in the house in order to gain legal rights/ prolonging the life of this person for his/her own best interests? Who is cashing the checks for pension/VA/social security? Did the "ill" person sign this person over onto their checking/bank box/ whatever else? Yes I have experience with this BS from a couple of in the home caregivers for my dad who were trying to squat to take over his house and car and bank accounts/lock boxes. One opportunist moved in with her sister and then called me to say my dad needed to go to the hospital because he was "getting mean". I said well you leave if he's getting mean it's his house ...Git ...If you're telling me you don't feel safe then GTF out of his house. He doesn't leave it's his house; You leave you pathetic losers.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
She constantly thinks of food
interesting how different it affects people
My mother seemed to do better with drinking than eating. She actually told me once that she only ate because she knew that she had to. She claimed that she was hardly ever hungry.
Most people will lose their appetite as they get older. If she can have treats bring her ice cream or other high calorie foods.
those meal in a drink with vitamins
the small bottles
I later found out my father had tooth denture issues but didn’t say which made things easy! (Not!)
so check there isn’t anything physically wrong first
overall as elderly decline I read it’s a natural progression this not eating malarkey!
I switched to small very soft meals
that didn’t need chewing or could give issues swallowing
and I stood by him talking as he was made to finish the drink
its not easy
maybe you eating at the same time and acting like you’re not monitoring may help
and check out issues with chewing and swallowing tho as well
good luck /stay strong
That's difficult because we want to do as much as we can and it feels like neglect when we can't persuade our loved ones to eat. However, your mum (like mine) is in decline. There is no getting better.
My mum stopped eating properly after a stroke. Now, 13 years later, with vascular dementia, my mum rarely eats at all. Some days she'll eat an ice cream lolly, or half a toasted teacake, but mostly she eats nothing all day.
Mum will reluctantly drink the supplement milkshakes, and she's still swallowing her many tablets, but it's getting more difficult for her to do so.
She sleeps most of the time and it's a real effort for her to take notice of what's going on around her.
That's no life.
When my mum finally refuses to swallow the milkshakes (she hates them) and/or her tablets, I will know that she will soon be leaving us. I'm not going to force her to swallow, or give her them another way, and I'm trying to get her husband on the same page.
I want my mum to go as peacefully as possible, and for her to have as dignified an end as possible.
She deserves that.
Both of my parents lost weight, refused medicines, then food, shortly thereafter..They were ready to move on to their next chapter.🕊️🕊️ Hospice taught me how end of life unfolds peacefully..I miss my Mom & Dad, but know they are in a better place & whole again.❤️😇
With dementia people do begin to eat less.
There are problems with swallowing.
There are problems with chewing.
Towards the end of life a person will stop eating, stop drinking. This is normal and it is not painful. As the body shuts down it does not need the nutrients the body can not process food that it would if it were fully functioning. To do a feeding tube would do more harm than good as the body could not process it.
If she is not eating because she is not on the medications that she should be most medications can be dosed as a patch, suppository or a liquid. Any of these could be administered more easily than trying to get her to take an oral medication.
What I would suggest is that you have her evaluated by Hospice. They can let you know where she is, educate you on exactly what is happening so that you have fewer concerns.
Maybe she could drink her nutrition in a protein shake..Sometimes loss of appetite could be end of life.Hospice can be very helpful.
Note: not all pills can be prepared this way. The pill printout should say if the pill is crushable or not.
What discussion have you had with your mother's doctors?
What recommendations/choices/options have they discussed with you?
"I am caring for my mother Deanna, who is 74 years old, living in my home with alzheimer's / dementia, anxiety, depression, diabetes, and sleep disorder."
Are you her PoA or legal guardian? If not, then I don't think you can remove her from the NH without the permission of whoever is legally managing her affairs. Not sure you even have the authority to request a doctor visit in the facility for her.
Your first discussion should be with her PoA or legal guardian. If she doesn't have one, or you are it, then the lead nurse for her floor, then the admins of the facility.
Please understand that the staff cannot legally force someone to take meds or eat. The most they can do is come up with creative ways to encourage her to do those things. But if you see her regularly and have noticed her weight loss, this is a problem. If you are just now visiting her after a year, then maybe this isn't the emergency you think it is.
People with ALZ do come to a point where they eat less and sleep more and disengage (my cousin won't open her eyes, even when she talks to you, she's very thin and in hospice care at 71).
Maybe it's time for hospice care for your Mom. But her PoA or legal guardian is the one that sets this all up.
More info about who is legally able to make decicions on her behalf would be helpful.
One opportunist moved in with her sister and then called me to say my dad needed to go to the hospital because he was "getting mean". I said well you leave if he's getting mean it's his house ...Git ...If you're telling me you don't feel safe then GTF out of his house. He doesn't leave it's his house; You leave you pathetic losers.