Aged Care Assessment, NSW

[azureline**]

Can someone tell me the process please? OH is organising this today for his dad, he and his older sis have Enduring Guardianship and POA for him and are about to exercise it.

Younger sis is adamantly against it.

Does anyone know, if they do an assessment do we have to specify what they are assessing him for?

eg: nursing home or care at home? Dementia?

He called on the weekend wanting to know about ebay, as he wanted to buy a $40,000 motorbike for someone 😐 Access to those funds has now been stopped but he will be upset/angry when he finds out.

It's just so sad as he was/is the loveliest caring man.:-(

[vampire-teddy]

we went through this all last year with my partner's dad.  he was living with us at the time as we moved him and my partner's mother in when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer but she only lived a month before passing away.  he has dementia.  we went through 3 ACAT assessments because they kept saying he was low care despite the fact that the only things he could do for himself was feed and toilet (sort of).  he was finally assessed properly after a 1 month stay in hospital when the medical staff were able to see how bad he really was.  even a geriatrician had told us he had alzeimers but ACAT initially took no notice of that.

make sure you are present for the assessment as we found they take on face value what the assessed person says.  he told the assessor that he was fine, did everything for himself and  was capable of independent living etc, while left alone he would have starved, been filthy and would have smoked himself to death, not to mention been unable to take medication, shop, cook or carry out any daily activities to keep himself healthy and alive.  also challenge the assessment if you do not agree with it.  

my fil was a placid lovely man who got increasingly abusive and difficult and would not comply with my partner and her sister when they tried to look after him at all (eg wouldn't wash, change clothes etc).  he constantly insisted he was perfectly healthy and got very upset and angry when we finally called an ambulance to take him to hospital where he was rushed to rescus and was found to be suffering from pneumonia and septicemia and only hours away from death.

my fil is now in a nursing home.  he was not happy about it for the first month and was very angry he couldn't smoke etc (smoking was his total focus) but now three months later he is settled in well, is happy and content to there and his physical health has improved as he isn't smoking though his dementia is slowing progressing.  we were also lucky to find an excellent nursing home only 5 minutes drive away so he is visited regularly and we even attended a lovely christmas function with him.

it is a difficult and stressful process and i wish your family all the best.  

[ashjoma]

How old is your FIL  ??

[azureline**]

He is 84. Until last Easter he was a very fit healthy man. Photographic memory, really interesting man. He and his wife built their own home about 5 years ago, and I mean used a hammer, saw and nails.....the only bit they had someone else do, aside from plumbing and power, was the roofing iron and only because the guys who delivered it were at a loss for words when they realised he was planning to climb the ladder himself. They just got up there and did it.

Last year he bought himself a motorhome but he only made 2 trips and then had a massive heart attack and sceptaceamia, which seemed to be when he became so fragile and had the memory loss.

[kengillard]

vascular dementia Az?

[azureline**]

It is difficult for me to get any info Gill, the ones who know either won't share or have no idea. Hopefully OH can get a correct diagnosis next week.

[lyndal1838]

Az, quite often it is very obvious to everyone that a person has some sort of dementia...whether it is Alzheimers or some other form does not really matter too much when the patient is quite elderly. 

I spoke to my father's doctor when Dad was in his late 80s and we both agreed that he was displaying typical symptoms of dementia, not necessarily Alzheimers. The doctor said that the tests were quite onerous and asked if I wanted to subject Dad to it just to "prove" what form of dementia he had.

[lurker17260]

All the people being discussed here are so lucky having family to care for them and make sure they are getting the help they need.

I have just come back from doing a meals on wheels run this morning and have seen one of the saddest cases yet.  This poor old man (80's probably) has discharged himself (if that is the right word) from the nursing home, leaving his wife there.  His home is about 10km out of town and very isolated.  It is absolutly putrid!  I nearly knocked my fellow volunteer over trying to get out of the door as I was dry retching with the smell.

We discussed it with the co-ordinator when we got back to the depot and she says there is not a lot they can do.  They cannot notify other agencies without authority from the client.  He has a brother in town but it appears he either can't or won't do anything to help.  It is very sad.

[azureline**]

How awful Lurker, sad isn't it 😞

I am currently cooking for FIL. Spaghetti and meatballs, massaman curry, chicken curry and rice, I so wish he would have meals on wheels as I think it is a fabulous service. They would have to deliver  a weeks worth to him as he is 20 mins from town.

The problem with the memory thing is he doesn't forget everything all the time and he can be quite clever at covering up. Speak to him by phone and his voice is strong, his speech clear and no confusion obvious at all.

His lunchtime people say he is the same when they come for their hour.

[lyndal1838]

Been there, done that Az.

Just make sure that when he is assessed there is someone present who knows and accepts the truth and is prepared to speak to the assessor privately to correct any misconceptions.

I must admit I found it very hard to do....I felt I was going behind Dad's back and telling tales.

I just had to tell myself I was doing the best I could for him.

To some extent we were very lucky...the fall that he had while in hospital really knocked him about and the final decision was out of our hands...the ACAT assessor and the hospital social worker just point blank refused to even think about him going home, even if someone had moved into the house to care for him.

I was stocking his freezer for several years but he kept on eating the same things....mini pizzas, frozen chips, sausages and mashed potato...and ham sandwiches for lunch.

All my cooking remained in the freezer, despite them being things he loved, or assured me that they were.

Meals on wheels is not necessarily the way to go.  A lot depends on who provides them. Dad finally accepted them from the local council and I would say more food went in the garbage than into Dad's mouth....and I could not blame him.  At least he enjoyed the soup and the sweets.

[azureline**]

The lunch people heat his main meal for him, they ask which meal he would like and give him  a choice., If he runs out of my food, he refuses other food. So, I try to keep ahead about 2 weeks. His son is there for dinner, 4 to 6pm, so he also has a snack then. Daughter is there for breakfast but invariably she rubs him up the wrong way by insisting he eats cereal tea and toast, so he then refuses to take his pills.

As the in law, I am treading on egg shells by doing anything. (but he asks me to)