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The good old-fashioned "snake pit" for the elderly is alive and well.
Reminds me of the photo of women in a flooded assisted living facility in Texas after Hurricane Harvey, sitting, knitting, in three feet of water as if nothing was wrong. Maybe they were hoping to go under like the Titanic and be through with it all. Notice the cat:
How do you know they would give you the high dose of pain meds? Many medical professionals will not do it for various reasons.
And many medical professionals will and do give excess meds when there is nothing left but pain and further deterioration. In the USA. They just don't speak about it. The family asks and it can happen.
I'm pretty sure even in Thailand, they will be careful not to overdose you to the point of killing you, no matter what your wishes. It's called murder, not "keeping comfortable" in legalese.
Of course they'll be careful, but in a terminally ill patient in pain who is on progressively higher doses of pain meds, and is wasting away metabolically from cancer or some horrible neurodegenerative disease, an "overdose" of pain meds becomes a murky concept, ie, nobody particularly studies, or cares, or can establish with any degree of certainty whether one extra molecule of a pain med might have been contributory to death or not. When such a patient dies, from multifactorial causes (all of them directly or indirectly related to his/her disease), nobody questions the normal practice of hospice physicians of trying to keep patients comfortable.
And many medical professionals will and do give excess meds when there is nothing left but pain and further deterioration. In the USA. They just don't speak about it. The family asks and it can happen.
Well, they won't give the amount of meds guaranteed to kill the patient - that indeed would be a murder. But patients on opioids do breathe slower, and at the end the doses required to control the pain are balanced against the breathing. But it is a fine balance, and in the end the patient will tip over - mainly from metabolic derangement caused by the disease, but opioids always depress breathing to some extent, so how much are they contributory to maybe a somewhat earlier death? Frankly, I don't think anyone is interested in the answer (which is impossible to obtain), not even lawyers or Catholic church. Opioids were given with the intention to make the patient comfortable, not with the intention to kill.
It makes me wonder if my local nursing homes would appreciate an additional $50.00 per "poor" resident, but I wouldn't know how to approach that or to make sure that those in need would actually get the money.
It makes me wonder if my local nursing homes would appreciate an additional $50.00 per "poor" resident, but I wouldn't know how to approach that or to make sure that those in need would actually get the money.
Any ideas?
Bring gifts to individuals, not money to the facility.
And many medical professionals will and do give excess meds when there is nothing left but pain and further deterioration. In the USA. They just don't speak about it. The family asks and it can happen.
As an RN working on an oncology floor many years ago, this is what went on. The goal was to keep the patient comfortable with a constant dose of pain medication given by oral liquid, subcutaneous shot or IV and no one acknowledged the fact that the drug was building up in their systems and would lead to death.
As an RN working on an oncology floor many years ago, this is what went on. The goal was to keep the patient comfortable with a constant dose of pain medication given by oral liquid, subcutaneous shot or IV and no one acknowledged the fact that the drug was building up in their systems and would lead to death.
Same here, my brother asked that our mother be given regular morphine the last few days so hopefully she experienced no pain. The nursing home was happy to comply when it was prescribed by her doctor, even though it was a Catholic facility.
Here people in an aged care facility on a full government pension (perhaps 40% of the total population of pension age population are on full pension ) are required to be left with 15% of their pension for their own use, about $US40 a week. This is adequate in our experience with our mothers.
Here people in an aged care facility on a full government pension (perhaps 40% of the total population of pension age population are on full pension ) are required to be left with 15% of their pension for their own use, about $US40 a week. This is adequate in our experience with our mothers.
In the US, each state decides the monthly amount given to each patient.
From the OP's article:
Quote:
“As soon as I get it, it’s gone,” says Chris Hackney, a 74-year-old resident of a nursing home in Durham, North Carolina, who spends his $30 monthly allowance on body wash, toothpaste, deodorant and some items his facility used to provide but has cut back on, wipes and diapers. “Think of the prices of everything that tripled and quadrupled. And the money hasn’t gone up any.”
Hackney, a retired appliance technician who has used a wheelchair since a motorcycle accident nine years ago, has a daughter who pays his cell phone and a church that sends care packages. But even a modest boost to the allowance, Hackney says, would mean a ton.
I don't see how these seniors can survive on $30 a month. I know my mother's nursing home required her to purchase her own toilet paper, diapers, wipes, toothpaste, deodorants, soap, snacks, clothing, etc. I spent $100 every couple of weeks on her grocery delivery. Gosh, adult diapers are so expensive - over $50 a month. My mother needed her regular socks replaced with diabetic socks. With each delivery, I sent a bag of her favorite cookies. It all adds up so quickly.
My mother had the money for these expenses. Otherwise, my sister and I would have paid.
If you do something nice at a nursing home - just be warned that the staff might take it home.
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