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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Alzheimer's / April 2007Wait time in Ontario for nursing homes
My mother has Alzheimer ans she is on the wait list for three nursing homes with the CCAC in Ontario. She has been assigned priority 2 out of 3. 1 being urgent cases. I am also being told that the intake for the nursing home is from 2 sources: hospital patients, who are given preference to vacate hospital beds, and from the wait list maintained by the CCAC. I have spoken to the residences an, for example, one tells me that my mother is second on the list. Yet the CCAC case manager tells me she is 25 on the list. Before I seek clarification from the case manager who probably has to follow public relations guidelines set up by the CCAC I would appreciate learning about the experiences of other persons in the wait time for a placement. Thank you, CarlosWA Hi Carlos, to put it bluntly, there is no such thing as a "normal" wait time - beds are freed up by deaths, sad but true. Few people leave nursing homes any way but feet first. We're in Toronto. My MIL was living in a locked AD ward and fell and broke her hip. Because of her advancing AD, we weren't able to get her walking again. The rules were she had to be ambulatory to stay there, so she got put on the wait list as priority one for a spot on the heavy care nursing floor within the same institution - and it was still many months until a bed came up (during which time, we paid for extra help). What are your mom's circumstances? Does she need assisted living or an actual heavy care nursing facilty? Any chance you can get her bumped up to a priority 1? M. She is living with me and my wife and we take good care of her. She is probaly between medium and advanced dementia. She has no other health problems. She can walk unassisted, dress herself, she is not incotinent. However, she needs help with bathing, food, taking medication, and should not go out alone. I think she is on the edge of hurting herself by doing something unsafe. We have taken many precautions but we are not at home all the time. It crossed my mind to rent her a room and tell the CCAC that she now lives alone. Then she would be a priority 1. I just do not want to wait until she is in a crisis for the CCAC to decide she should be placed. I get the feeling that the CCAC probably gives priority to those coming out of hospitals and those who are not helped by their families. However, in my case we are just me and my wife helping her. We do get a personal service worker provided by the CCAC for 3 hours a week. Any other ideas on how to bumo her to priority 1? Carlos >Hi Carlos, to put it bluntly, there is no such thing as a "normal" >wait time - beds are freed up by deaths, sad but true. Few people [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >M. > She is living with me and my wife and we take good care of her. She is > probaly between medium and advanced dementia. She has no other health [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Carlos, my heart goes out to you and your wife, no question there. I am NOT in Ontario and I know that health care in Canada is much different than it is here in the United States. I will ask you this - have you ever considered seeing if there is an organization in your area where you could pay a person a reasonable amount of money just to be with your Mother while you're away? I mean you know what you can handle better than I do, no question there, but if she's still able to walk, isn't violent, isn't incontinent, etc., would you feel better having her remain with you? My own Mother suffered dementia that was probably brought on by mini- strokes. We did just what I described above after a social worker recommended a lady to us who owned a small business supplying people for just that purpose. The person we got was an absolute savior. She would come and hang out with my Mother all day, cook for her, do laundry, even cook for us and leave it in the refrigerator. I think she was a bit under $20 (US) per hour. When my Mother began to suffer other problems and ended up in the hospital with a tube to help her breath, we got her to stay with her there as well. That way, she woke up to a friendly face. Prior to the hospitalization, she would also take her to Doctor's appointments for which we would pay for the mileage. It's just a thought. I don't know your situation, nor is it any of my business, but I wanted to mention it. I know that feeling when you're away, wondering what's going on. My Mother would get into states where I was 20+ miles away at work and I'd call to see how things were going and she'd tell me she had made something on the stove. A gas stove. You can imagine the fear I was feeling as I would race home to make sure everything was OK. That's when we realized we had to do something and found the outside help I mentioned above. Good luck... Charles R. Whealton Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com Thank you for your support. We do hire two caregivers who each come twice a week for three hors and that is a help. However, my mother refuses help from them (food prepared by them, cleaning, going out on walks with them. The caregivers do distract her. Ocassionally my mother chats with the caregivers. Also, I schedule as much as poccible being out at work when the caregivers are in my home. I have made a list of pros and cons and reached the conclusion that my mother would be better in a nursing home. The caregiver, my wife and I do not supervise my mother 7/24. Also , if my wife or I are sick or have an accident, or one of my children need help (they live far away) I would be in a bind. One caregiver quit... it is a difficult job trying to hel someone who wants no help. Also, I have the problem that caregivers occasionally may not come because they have their own family problems. By the way, it costs about half to hire caregivers directly than from an agency. Carlos >> She is living with me and my wife and we take good care of her. She is >> probaly between medium and advanced dementia. She has no other health [quoted text clipped - 71 lines] >Charles R. Whealton >Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com > Thank you for your support. We do hire two caregivers who each come > twice a week for three hors and that is a help. However, my mother [quoted text clipped - 94 lines] > >Charles R. Whealton > >Charles Whealton@ pleasedontspam.com Carlos: It certainly sounds like you've done your homework and have come to the hard conclusion. Let there be no question, it was very hard for us with my own Mother not wanting help at times. I can't imagine what it would have been like had she been in that state constantly. I certainly wish you the best of luck. Everybody here knows, it's not easy and it's not an easy decision to make. The stress of something like this can also take a toll on your family, something your loved one would never want. Good luck, and keep in touch... Charles R. Whealton Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com Carlos, I hope they've got her on the wait list for a spot in a dementia ward. Regular assisted living isn't going to cut it - since she is going to need close supervision and support to keep her safe, if not today, then very shortly. My mother in law was in pretty good shape mentally, and excellent physical condition when she first went to assisted living (she had been living alone with supports). She was only there a few months when it became apparent that she needed more than the place was prepared to offer - she went a bit more down hill, and all of a sudden.... For example, she couldn't operate the lock on her door, she couldn't tell time so someone would have to go find her to make sure she got to meals, that same issue meant she couldn't go to activities she might have enjoyed, she couldn't remember or take advantages of the many services they had available (she could never remember she could buy essentials and treats in the little shop, she never remembered the stocked kitchen on her floor where she could get snacks, she couldn't use the banking services, the hairdresser - things that required you to recall those things were there and when/where). She also started needing total supervision with bathing and dressing (she'd go out in underwear, layer stuff, wear soiled items). The biggest thing was the wandering - the potential for her to get out into the outer world was the big fear, but she also got lost IN the building despite its very, very simple layout, including one scary episode where she got up in the wee hours, didn't understand it was night, went in the elevator and ended up in the basement boiler room where the janitor found her. One thing you can do to rachet her up the priority list is make it clear to the caseworker that you CAN'T provide the 24-7 care she needs (i.e. emphasize she's more than you can cope with, you are stressed out, whatever). If you tell them you have everything in hand, and things are fine....she'll stay down the list. But....if you have to wait, make sure you are waiting for the right kind of care - a secure specialized dementia unit, where she can stay for a long time. Mary G. > By the way, it costs about half to hire caregivers directly than from > an agency. but agencies supposedly vet their staff for criminal history, work references, etc., plus they pay all taxes and they carry liability insurance. if you had to sue because a caregiver screwed up and injured your LO, who would you prefer to sue, an agencie's insurance company or a minimum wage caregiver with no money and no assets? True. To hire a caregiver directly you must have good interviewing skills, ask them how they would handle certain situations, request docuemntation, check references, and be able to size up the candidates. You must be willing to accept the risk. There are risks for your love one even when you are helping him/her. C >> By the way, it costs about half to hire caregivers directly than from >> an agency. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >LO, who would you prefer to sue, an agencie's insurance company >or a minimum wage caregiver with no money and no assets? Have you talked to CCAC about the need for home care while you're waiting for placement? I'm surprised to hear that you're paying anything at all - in our area (also in Ontario), we were able to have up to 18 hours/week provided for absolutely no cost - and when my mother in law became more seriously ill, and was moved to something called 'medically sensitive care' (palliative) they offered 40 hours/ week - we never got to use that, but if she had hung on longer, we certainly would have. Re: the wait list, they told us it would probably be 6 months or more, but then called with an offer of a bed within a very short time. They were some irked when we chose not to accept it though! |
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