What to when you need a carer NOW
Marissa Sandler is the CEO and co-founder of Careseekers. Previously a social justice lawyer and researcher for over 15 years, Marissa is passionate about helping people live with dignity and finding innovative solutions to problems.
Moving to a retirement village or moving a loved one to a nursing home can be something that one puts off until they really need it NOW.
And when NOW happens, ringing around trying to find vacancies begins, often followed by deep sighs at the length of the waiting list for the place you loved best.
We recently helped Diane* whose mother was waiting for a spot to come up in a nursing home. The only homes Diane could get her mother into were the ones the family didn’t like. The thought of sending their mother there was heartbreaking so the family got carers in the home while waiting for a spot to come up at a place they thought their mum could call home. A spot eventually came up and Diane didn’t feel nearly as guilty as she would have had she settled on the first ones. In the interim her mum got a few more months in her house.
Nursing homes in particular can be a gamble. While a low-needs client may be able to get a spot straight away, high needs clients can wait three to six months depending on the popularity of the home.
So what can you do to make sure you or your loved one is safe and cared for at home while waiting for that spot to come up?
We posed this question to Danielle Robertson. Danielle worked in and was CEO of her family’s business, Dial-An-Angel for 29 years and now runs her own consultancy, Danielle Robertson Consulting, helping families navigate aged care options.
Danielle gave some great tips for helping keep a loved one at home while waiting for a spot to come up at a nursing home:
1. First, organise a care assessment - this can be separate to an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) assessment or apply for an ACAT assessment. An ACAT assessment helps people access Government subsidised care yet Danielle recommends organising a care needs assessment in a more holistic way – try to find out what tasks the person would like assistance with and what tasks they need assistance with. Perhaps talk to the person about the tasks they no longer enjoy doing so that they do not see it as an attack on their competence. Socialisation is so important. Try to find out how much the person is getting out and about and interacting with other people.
2. Look for quality care – work with a quality and reputable care provider or service like Careseekers to find carers who can assist straight away and also maybe on a more long term basis. Thinking long term will take pressure off the situation as the wait could be up to six months. When looking for quality care think about what attributes are important in a carer to you and the person needing care. Obviously things like reliability and trustworthiness are important but what personality traits are you looking for in the carer - someone chatty and enthusiastic or someone quieter?
3. Consider this a long term option – Try put in place a plan that could work long term as it is probably what your loved one wants. Danielle finds that almost all her clients want to stay at home for as long as possible. Once you are putting in place an in-home care option, try find one that could work for as long as possible, and you may find you no longer need that residential spot.
*Name has been changed
Related links:
The best-kept secret for caring for older loved ones
Nursing home staff share the thanks they receive
Splitting the caring of a loved one with siblings