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Big day for folks, and the rest of the family too.
Wish us luck.
Any success stories in here?
I guess I've been what you would call a caregiver for the last few years, now we're working to transition away from that a bit. We'll see how this goes.
Give them time to settle in. Many have a lot of complaints at first but gradually find they like it. The residents will probably gossip a lot and your parents may share things with you that sound like action needs to be taken. Be careful and don't assume that they are giving you an accurate picture. The info is often very skewed.
See if you can have some meals with them there. Good way to find out how that is handled and whether they are fitting in. Mom goes over and eats at the assisted living part and has several groups she meets there.
Give them time to settle in. Many have a lot of complaints at first but gradually find they like it. The residents will probably gossip a lot and your parents may share things with you that sound like action needs to be taken. Be careful and don't assume that they are giving you an accurate picture. The info is often very skewed.
See if you can have some meals with them there. Good way to find out how that is handled and whether they are fitting in. Mom goes over and eats at the assisted living part and has several groups she meets there.
As Sweetana3 mentioned, it will take a bit of time for them to get settled in to their new routine. Give them at least 2-3 weeks to get the kinks ironed out. Keep in mind, everything will be different for them, and being in an ALF is just another notch in the belt about losing one's independence.
Do you live close by? Try to visit at least every other day for the first few weeks. Visit at different times, when meds might be dispensed or for nighttime care. (Are caregivers supposed to be helping with all of their DLA's?)
Try to get them to sign up for some of the activities or entertainment.
Oh, and they WILL always complain about the food, even if it is chef quality/delicious!
Oh, and they WILL always complain about the food, even if it is chef quality/delicious!
I noticed that with two family members. One of them nailed it on the head when she said, "the food is good but its prepared in a healthy way, for lots of people at once." Her point was, sometimes she wanted fried chicken or a pork chop that was cooked in butter. That said, another one raved about how good the soup was and I agreed with him. I caught the chef on a smoke break once and relayed the compliment; he said he made all soup from scratch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by McGowdog
Thanks for the pointers. Will keep this in mind. They sounded excited about going to breakfast this morning.
They have each other and it sounds like they have a decent attitude as well. Some folks truly flourish there.
It took my mom some time to come to understand that she only had to make a call and things were fixed, problems were solved, and everything could be made ok with the apartment. Her biggest problem was that she did not want to "inconvenience" anyone and would hesitate to call on important things.
This is pretty common since the complex had every building manager discuss at their monthly building meetings when to call for emergencies and what was an emergency.
I just stress how wonderful it is to have a whole maintenance staff to take care of issues instead of having to find someone, have them show up and then pay them.
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