Carer Help

Because blogs are not that easy to navigate, I've decided to get together my thoughts on advice to help carers - not with issues like available help, legal issues and finances, all of which can be researched on the net. These aspects are state or country specific anyway, so everyone needs to do their own homework.

Having said that, I would recommend getting an enduring power of attorney in place as soon as possible - but that's something you need to talk to your lawyer about. Bear in mind that in my case by the time I felt I could do with it, my mom was past being able to make the legal decision.

In a way, it wasn't all that necessary for me because we already lived togther in the same home, so there was no need to sell real estate. Similarly, there were no investment issues to deal with. But it could be a very different story for you.

I have to say that it's not easy to raise with a loved parent the need for them to hand over to you the managment of their lives and possessions. Some people might find that simple to do - well, bully for them. I'm not ashamed to say that I didn't - one of the main reasons being the cold calculation required to tell someone you love that they are approaching death - because that's what it amounts to.

I shirked doing this, not because I couldn't face the truth myself, but because of the effect it would have on my mother's mindset. And that's not something that everyone may have thoughts of or even care about.

Think yourself lucky if the patient, while still compos mentis, initiates this step themselves. That's something to be grateful for. Otherwise, things can slip considerably before you realize what's going on. The guts of the matter is being aware well in advance of what's about to happen, and that's a rare gift, unless you've seen it all before, or read about it. Thank goodness Alzheimers is much more discussed these days than it was 10 years ago.

What I'm going to be looking at is some of the advice that most helped me in dealing with my mom's journey - some things I wish I'd known earlier, and things that gradually became clearer to me as time passed.

Because I've always had a strong interest in alternative health care, most of the things I'm going to be talking about are ways to help your patient's health. I'm not a healthcare professional and I don't want to be seen to be advising people on health matters, but I WILL be offering some common-sense thoughts and suggestions to make a difference to YOUR day.

Stay tuned!

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