I am a baby boomer. As I have been getting older so has everyone else including my mother. I am a reasonably intelligent person, I am a professional in the medical field. In working in the healthcare field I felt as though I would have a deeper insight into the healthcare system. Boy was I in for a shock.
My mother was at one of the nicest nursing homes in New Jersey. It has a reasonably good staff to patient ratio. When you walk in, it looks like a french country château. There are flat screen T.V. ‘s everywhere, with gorgeous, inviting couches that look like a perfect place for my mom to hang with all her new friends. My mother may not always have a solid understanding about what people are talking about, but she always has an opinion. We decided this was a good place and they will take good of my mom. It was really close so we could visit everyday or every other day.
As you may guess where this story is going we were consistently disappointed. My mother needs her liquids thickened with a thickener so she doesn’t choke. She also needs to be reminded to drink so she doesn’t get dehydrated. Many times we would walk in and she would be by herself in her room, with a cup of water with no thickening agent. This was so disappointing, frustrating, and quite frankly dangerous. We had the sad realization that if we wanted to keep my mother safe and make sure she had some company someone in my family would have to quit their job. The problem was we all needed to work and also liked our jobs. I was feeling especially guilty because I was a wild child and probably sped up the aging process a bit for the poor woman.
As I researched all the possibilities I found a company called Companions for Care. They will provide someone to go into the nursing home and make sure that my mother gets what she needs. The companion they sent with played cards, took my mom
to the beauty parlor, and made sure her food and drinks met her medical requirements. The companion they sent was a Certified Home Health Aide and was fantastic! She gave us peace of mind when we were at the nursing home, and made our daily visits a time for chatting with my mother. Before we had help, I would spend my time at the nursing home chasing down someone in charge with my list of problems, I would be left with little time to spend with my mom. This routine just added to my frustration. The change was wonderful! The peace of mind I had knowing that my mom had company, and someone to get her whatever she needed was priceless.
Companions for Care 856-669-0211 – a great resource for seniors!
