attempting to stand

[kay1]

The staff at the nursing home are having a problem with Frank in the afternoons after lunch, when he is seated in the armchair in the lounge. He WILL attempt to stand, resulting in a couple of falls, staff get called away and cannot keep their eye on him all the time. He is put to bed which isn't a problem as he sleeps such a lot now, but once he wakes, usually 6.00pm he thinks it is morning and wants to get up, would welcome any comments and advice please.

[riosenior]

Kay

You must talk to Social Services about this. Using restraint , such as putting somebody to bed, can be considered a Deprivation of Libertty (DOL) and there are all sorts of issues that have to be considered dependent on whether the person involved still has Mental Capacity (another very complicated area) or not.

Your Social Services should have specialists in these subjects to advise you and the home on what is acceptable as these are legal requirements that must be followed.

[dllera]

Hi Kay -Frank will try to stand until he can no longer do it on his own. You can tell him until you are blue in the face but it will not register. It's just a brain thing. Most PSP people eventually require one-on-one care and it is difficult for nursing homes to provide this level of care. I would look to the staff and ask them how they are going to address this because he will keep doing it. They took on the care - they need to figure out how to provide the level Frank needs. They also need to understand that Frank does not do it to be difficult -he has a brain disease - -things don't fire like they used to. My advice - make sure that the nursing home has read about PSP - -provide them the documenation and insist they read it. Let me know if you need help gathering info - I can help you pull it together. Also - review the care plan - it sounds like it needs to be revisted. Also - watch what they are doing to deal with Frank - medical & physical restraints are not acceptable - review notes and medication administration. Speaking from personal experience - -you have to stay on top of what is going on there. We had a certain expectation of the level of care that was definately not in line with the services we had been receiving. . . trust but verifiy!

[kay1]

dllera, thank you so much for this advice. I did actually take my PSP manual into the care home today, and it seems that the standing attempt is his way of telling the staff that he wants to go to bed, the staff do know now that he cannot be left on his own. I am going to get more of the PSP advice cards which I can hand out to the carers.

[riosenior]

Hi Kay

What are the home going to do to ensure that Frank is not left on his own?

[kay1]

hi riosenior, I have spoken to the nurses, and they seem to think it is his was of communicating that he wants to go t bed. He is quite happy and does sleep, the staff check on him (he cannot get out of the bed), he is woken for supper and medication about 6.00 and goes back to sleep. Yesterday he sat contentedly in the arm chair. It is the curse of PSP, not two days the same. Really appreciate your concern. I have taken my PSP file and left with them and it will give them a little more idea of what they are dealing with

x

[john_z]

Hi Kay, my father has psp and he also tries to stand on his own very often.As a result, we had some falls and injuries in the past, it's too difficult to avoid the falls at all unfortunately.Our neurologist told us it's something a psp patient cannot control, his attempt to stand is a instinctive reaction, as dllera mentioned is a brain thing.We can only ensure that someone is close to the patient all the time to reduce the falls as possible.I wish you the best to you and your family.

[kay1]

Trying to find a few right words to say how much comfort all the responses have given me. Health Unlocked and all the community have made so much difference being able to share the highs and lows of the PSP. Thank you.

[jillannf6]

Hi Kay

I know where u r coming from

I missed ur blog and am just replying now

Lol Jill