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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.
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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.
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I see you are caring for a wife with dementia. How often would she normally have changed her clothes a few years ago? Some people get the idea that once they are older and they are not doing physical labour any more they don't need to change their clothes as often, but you don't need to let your standards slip just because you are aging. I would think with dementia there are probably quite a few spills at meal time and probably issues with incontinence, at least occasionally. You need to change her underwear daily (or more often than that if needed), her blouses and pants when she soils them or after her shower, every few days at least.
I would change daily --- as there is likely food spills and perhaps leakage from depends, etc. Many seniors, especialy those with dementia, don't see the need for this so you may be having a battle. My MIL is in assisted liv. and (literally) we have the aides hiding yesterday's clothes as she is hamper diving to retrieve items thrown into it! On a previous thread, someone suggested buying duplicates of clothes and having the set washed while the clean set was put on. Between age and memory and yes sometimes depression, the senior doesn't see the need for it all.
I would say change underwear daily and blouses and pants every few days or when they spill food or soil themselves (and they will). Normally a woman would wear something different every day but not necessarily throw yesterday's in the hamper unless its dirty. Now that I'm not working, I sometimes wear the same thing for two days if its still clean and fresh and I'm just hanging around the house or doing chores, but never more than that. Check the condition of what she is wearing at night, either hang it up if still clean or put in hamper and lay out a different outfit for morning. Sadly dementia robs a woman of her normal interest in caring about looking good. For the past five years my mother will wear the same thing every day, filthy, until I make her change. They just don't notice any more. We buy her new clothes and she won't wear them.
I agree with the comments above. If this is a woman, tell her how nice her clothes smell after you wash them. Depending on how soiled she gets, you can purchased panty 'liners' like Pose poise website (they are disposable and line the panty, so you can throw them away every day)... not too expensive and you can buy them at the Dollar Tree for $1.
It's a good idea to keep up hygiene in the early stages because it will only get harder. If I had not insisted on daily showers when my husband was going through a stage of not wanting to get wet, I would be in trouble now that he is totally incontinent. He sleeps soundly for 14 hours a night and definitely needs a shower when I get him up.
I think everyone did a good job of answering. I've only to add that my father dresses himself but sleeps in his underwear so he forgets to put on fresh underwear. I have post-its on his mirrors which tell him to put on fresh underwear every day (he laughs about it) and then I go through his closet when I do laundry and pull shirts he has worn and hung back up. He doesn't soil himself so I wash the pants once in awhile. But he wears his oldest threadbare ones which I will try to replace with duplicates. His biggest problem is that he has too many clothes to choose from so he wears the ones at the front of the closet which are the easiest to see. I think he has always been this way to a certain extent. But he used to link underwear change to a daily shower and now he only showers once a week. He has Depends available to him if he feels incontinent and he will switch on his own between them and his underwear, but he throws the Depends in the laundry hamper. He also prefers khakis because they are lighter weight, have pockets and he can wear a belt.
Change daily and here is why: the elderly can't bathe well enough and their garments tend to have an oodor! Trust me-my mother's did until I got them away from her to launder them!
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.
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