Things to Do before Your Parent Goes to a Nursing Home
According to the data published by the United Kingdom’s Alzheimer’s society, over 850,000 people will be diagnosed with dementia by the end of 2015. With the growing numbers, the probability of your parents’ condition deteriorating is high, and the possibility that they might need expert care is even higher.
Things That Take Precedence
However, before that, affairs needs to be set right ahead of the big leap into a Crawley nursing home like Ashton Grange Nursing Home in Horsham; and you definitely should not miss out a chance to make arrangements and ask certain important questions while they are still lucid.
Life Support Options
This is a difficult topic to broach, and it can be emotionally daunting. However, many hospitals need the right authorization to carry on health care wishes when it comes to termination and life support, also in cases of patients who faced the disability due to an accident, says Burke Harvey. Talk to them about feeding tube usage or resuscitation options; this will help tremendously when the time calls for it. Make sure you have their wishes in writing in the form of a living will. Also, if they stay at a care home, send a copy to their nursing home in Crawley West Sussex as a means of precaution.
Ask About Family Heritage and History
As they begin to decline in health, some might even develop dementia. As children, you would want to hold on to as much as you can of your parents. So, as long as they still can, ask questions about their childhood, relationships, family heritage and history. You can make a note of things in a chronological order, it will be a lovely token for you and they can also refer to it, when their memory starts failing while they reside at a dementia nursing home in Horsham.
Legal Power of Attorney
This is a document that lets you make decisions on behalf of your parents. Here your parents will appoint you to handle their affairs to ensure that things go on, when they themselves are unable to do so. You can also take a “durable power of attorney”, which authorizes decision making on event that the person becomes mentally unstable. This document will come into effect only on certification from a specialist on the mental incompetence of your parents.
Choose a Care Facility
If you have decided to move them to a Crawley nursing home, make sure that such an institution is affiliated to a specialty care center, in a situation of their condition worsening. Talk to them about it, and make sure that their requirements are also met.
Jewellery and Valuables
If your parents decide to move to a care home, make sure you sort out their jewellery and other valuable items. It would also be a good idea to ask them to leave it behind if they are moving to a dementia nursing home in Horsham. Your parents might not be in a position to keep track of it, and might misplace it or even give it away. And although the security of such facilities is very good, it is better not to take chances.