Visitors for people in a nursing home.

[Outrigger]

My sister is in a nursing home she can't be left alone. She has PSP. Her daughter lives NEAR by but is working and can only go visit her 2 or three times a week. Since my sister is hard to understand people think she has had a stroke. She is lonely and still mentally with it. Is there any group that has visitors to talk to her or just visit. The rest of us live far away and so we just try to contact her a few times a week. Do they have companion volunteers available in Rhone Island? My Mom had one when she was in hospice care. My sister needs a little more interaction. Is there such a service?

[Caro2132]

Have you tried Visiting Angels ?

[Outrigger in reply to Caro2132]

No, my other sister had mentioned them before years ago when my Mom was sick. Good Idea , Thank you

[Kevin_1]

Hi

Sorry to hear about your difficult situation.

Things to try:

Do you have a local Hospice with a volunteer scheme? We have a community hospice with volunteers who visit folk at home etc.

Contact your local hospital volunteer group or your local District Nurse - They might know.

Contact your local volunteer bureau?

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

Best

Kevin

Edit: Oh, I think you might be in the States... These might not be so helpful. Good luck.

[Outrigger in reply to Kevin_1]

Rhode Island seems I had a typo in my question. Yes, the states it is. I don't think hospice helps you here until your health is in the 6 month window. However, I could ask. Thanks

[Caro2132 in reply to Outrigger]

If not hospice then palliative care might be a solution. Your primary physician can refer you. Get a social worker involved or the local Council on Aging at your town hall.

[Outrigger in reply to Caro2132]

What is palliative care? I see that used, but I am not familiar with what it means. Is that what she has now? She is in the nursing home and will never leave until she passes away.

[easterncedar in reply to Outrigger]

I think hospice isn't as time limited as it used to be. My mother's doctor just put in the referral for my mother. Now we are getting a really interesting and intellectual chaplain who stops by once a week to see my mother. He is good for conversation. The social worker stops by for a chat now and then. We have declined volunteer visitors for my mother so far, although my guy had one for a while who would come once a week.

[Outrigger in reply to easterncedar]

Ok, good to know. This health care system can have a lot of red tape. Once you have family members that are having health problems you find out, Unless you have excellent health care and the money to pay for it. The spider web to maneuver through the system can be frustrating. It's hard to find someone that can or will help you. Many people say no problem fill out this form, but then there is a lot more to it. A caring social worker or health professional that knows something is hard to find. Many phone calls and questions to doctors, nursing care, and social workers you may find somebody that can help. I think they are so overwhelmed or burnt out they either don't have the answer or it is too much trouble to get the answer, if they don't know the answer off the top of their head. It's a lot of digging and phone calls to find the person that might hold the key.

[Hidden in reply to Outrigger]

Hospice is open ended in the USA as long as decline can be proven. I just start Larry in home hospice. A nurse comes once a week. They have a volunteer program that has people come in to give the care giver a break for a few hours as needed. I will have the first volunteer visit this Thursday. Check to see what hospice programs are available in Rhode Island near your sister’s nursing home. If they would go into the home.

Palliative care is monitoring a person’s health that is in decline with no cure. Hospice is a more advance form of palliative care.

[Outrigger in reply to Hidden]

My Sister kept saying hospice to me but I didn't know that it was open ended. Well, that shines a new light on the subject. Thank you some more good information. Now if I didn't have to work that could work. I have done a lot of care giving for at least 5 relatives not all of them needed hospice and most of the people were mobile up to a point. Until they were bed ridden and couldn't get up any more. I have used hospice twice. Once for my Mother (at her house)and once for my Mother in law (at my house). The relatives did most of the paperwork. I was just the helper for driving, shopping, cleaning, helping pay bills, cooking, and doctor appointments and anything else. Also, I was the helper with hospice care for two. It takes a toll and I had some help. Then you add working on top of that you get no rest and you love the person but it is tiring.

Ok, at least I have a new option. Thanks. I will check into it.

[easterncedar in reply to Outrigger]

Our hospice service is part of the local general hospital here, but there are two others, one independent, private one, that I didn't have a good feeling about, and one with a county hospital that was good, but farther out. Medicare covers it for my mother. Different maybe if your sister is in a facility, I suspect. I hope we aren't getting your hopes up. You have been through the mill, it seems. Hang in there! Peace, ec

[journeyofjoy in reply to Hidden]

This is good information to know. I just found out as well that Hospice isn't necessarily limited to the six month window. We're getting things going for Palliative care now. Did you have palliative care before getting Hospice on board?

[Hidden in reply to journeyofjoy]

We were suppose to start with palliative care then go on to full hospice. I didn’t like the first agency and fired them after two weeks. Had the doctor write a new prescription for another agency. She wrote it as palliative or hospice. The agency went with hospice.

The nurse we have told me she had one guy on for two years. He went off it and then went back on it for another two years. He has now gone off it again. No idea what he has.

Palliative care comes into the home and monitors the patient. Hospice covers a lot of whatever they recommend. Like transit chair, medications, bed pads, diapers. They have the things shipped to the house. They keep asking me if I need or want anything. They offer a home aid. They would come a few times a week for an hour to bath or feed Larry. I am trying a volunteer who is to be here tomorrow to sit with Larry to give me a break to get out of the house for a few hours.

Having just read your profile your husband more than qualifies for hospice. It’s your doctor’s decision but I would put pressure in him or her to change palliative to hospice.

[SewBears]

I don’t know if this is near you but I searched Rhode Island and found this link:

turnto10.com/news/local/pro...

Sorry I don’t really know much about this but it looks interesting.

[Marilyn_cbd12]

As do some others, I believe that Hospice volunteers may be available outside the 6 month window. Also, our church has ministers of communion, and while their name suggests their primary function, they usually visit a bit with home-bound people if the company is wanted. Perhaps a church-based resource?

Marilyn