Care homes and home care for the elderly

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olive
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Location: Poniente, Granada

Care homes and home care for the elderly

Postby olive » Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:58 am

This is a subject I have been thinking about for a while and Benidorm's recent post has prompted me to start a thread to share info.

We have an elderly relative living with us and generally it is all working well. This may or could change if they had a debilitating stroke for example. So far we have managed with Internet shopping being invaluable for things like adjustable height bed legs, commode and so on. The family doctor is brilliant.

Some general questions are:

How is a stay in a Spanish care home funded? has anyone put a relative into such a place?

Is there a facility for respite care? e.g. if the carer is ill or just needs a break for a week.

How do you access care at home from the locals who officially do "assisting old people"? Do you pay for example? I would be very interested in anyones experiences?


Anyone else in a similar position with info/experiences to share?

BENIDORM
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Re: Care homes and home care for the elderly

Postby BENIDORM » Mon Sep 24, 2018 12:09 pm

Olive,
I would suggest that your first stop should be the Town Hall ( Social Services dept.), they should be able to give you information on all of the services available in your area.
It varies from area to area but home help type service is usually available for over 80/85 years of age or in circumstances where someone is living alone for example.
There are numerous services like meals on wheels etc.

Weekly respite care is usually available but I think for some there is a charge.

We recently visited a care home in Huetar Tajar just out of interest, and we were given a full guided tour of the facilities available and allowed to chat to some of the residents including a British lady from another town, she had fallen and was unable to look after heself properly, she was delighted with the attention and care that she was receiving.
We were also able to 'sit in' at a craft class attended by resident and day care people ( men included ), everyone was very happy and cheerful.
I was particularly interested because many years ago I worked as a social worker in UK, only part time, my job was to visit elderly and handicapped people in their own homes and to determine their requirements and recommend possible occupational therapy.
I also organised classes at some youth clubs ( aided by my own children !).
If you need more info please contact me.
Regards,
Gordon.
ps. I forgot to mention that your local Doctor may be involved in assessing requirements, so have a word with him also....

olive
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Re: Care homes and home care for the elderly

Postby olive » Thu Sep 27, 2018 4:43 pm

Thanks Gordon. 94 views but no other comments. Surely someone else has been there before?

We had already made an appointment with town Hall for today and as you say a good starting point.

Yes there is an age bar easily achieved in our case. However the person must have lived here for five or more years. Yes there is a doctors assessment required. This plus the “social services” results in the person being assessed 1,2 or 3. 1 gets no help, 2 around 40 hours a week and 3 was around 70. It could also be that care home was a better option following assessment.i.e. In their view the carers wouldnt cope at home.

We aren't at this stage at all but it is best to be aware should/when the need arises.

Don't know about any costs but part of the process includes a declaration of income for the household.

Pamela1
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Re: Care homes and home care for the elderly

Postby Pamela1 » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:40 pm

Olive, i wrote yesterday about this subject but when i tried to send it the login window appeared although i had already logged in, i lost all my post, i did intend to re write it but i was too anoyed. I will have a bash now and keep saving it as i go along.
Last year i lost my mil, she had been in a nursing/care home for 3 yrs after suffering a brain haemorrhage, she lost the use of her legs and was fed intravenously for the remainder of her yrs, her mind was also effected but she hadn't completely lost the plot and she knew who her family members were.
When the consultant at the hospital told the family that she would require nursing care he gave them a weeks grace so that they could find her suitable care.I have to say that it was a stressful time and included at least 4 visits to different care homes,some of which my SIL said she wouldn't leave a dog..
They finally settled for one in Pinos Puente and it was in reasonable distance so my SIL could visit her mother easily and she did almost every day. She got to know the staff very well and was very happy with the care her mother received. The home consisted of a ground floor and an upper floor, those who were able to walk either unassisted or with a frame and were of sound mind occupied the ground floor, disabled and dementia residents were on the upper floor. If there is any negatives i'd say one of them is that because of my MIL's disabilities she was placed on the upper floor although she still had 3/4 of her mind, she used to call it the mad house! :lol: she loved conversation and she was funny with a huge sense of humour and i shall never forget how she always laughed even though she had the hardest of life. It was sad that she wasn't able to enjoy a good old gossip or have a good old giggle with the other residents however the staff would stimulate her when they were able and had the time. Another negative was the decor of the home or lack of it, the rest room had a few Formica tables and chairs, there was a tv on the wall, a few photographs but very little else, it felt sparse and of course having no carpets made it feel less homely. Having said that it was very clean and well run.
The family shared the cost of her care with no help whatsoever from the Junta de Andalucia, OH had a brother and 3 sisters who were all working but like many people they had their own homes and family to manage. My MIL had a small pension from the town hall,she used to clean the main square in the village, her husband had his pension and paid what he could towards the home fees, they had a very small amount of savings but that was it. At first it went well but then BIL was diagnosed with cancer and two of the sisters were made redundant, then the difficulties set in, in the meantime MIL had a few bad turns and had to return to hospital on several occasions, ambulances had to be paid for to take her from the home to Granada hospital. She died peacefully in the home but the family do know she was happy there and that's very satisfying to know.
As for carers in the home and what i know about that, not very much unfortunately, FIL who is 92 and lives alone now had carers allocated to attend to him in his home, he has severe rheumatoid arthritis in his hands and has trouble with one of his legs. The reason why we don't know that much is because he told them to clear off. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Gasman
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Location: Huelva province

Re: Care homes and home care for the elderly

Postby Gasman » Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:30 pm

Lovely post Pamela - gives us hope for the future!!!
Olive - it is not through lack of interest, more lack of experience. There are two what look like fairly well run homes for Mayores in our little town but we have no personal knowledge, nor information second hand from in-mates' relatives. I do know that our town hall, and Alcalde, is very active in providing home care to the best of their capabilities with trained staff, just cleaners, entertainments, etc. I understand that each town can provide, or not, a considerable amount from their annual budget, for home carers. So it may be a bit of a lottery as to quality and availability of care.

Of course the expectation in many, and especially rural, places is that the family will look after the aged - but finally Spain is waking up to the 21st Century where the family is no longer on-tap and in-situ to be able to always do the necessary - not to mention that in many cases trained care IS a necessity! So more Old folks homes, more day care, more at-home care is getting organised, just a bit late ...

Pamela - I have just discovered what may happen with missing posts - do not know if the same was in your case, but it really is aggravating when your long and complicated post goes missing. If you do it in the Quick Reply, press send, then move onto another topic in another tab, you may not notice that another post has been put up while you were typing and in fact your post has been held in "Edit" mode for you to confirm that you do not want to add or change yours in relation to the more recent post. So you close your tab, and plooof your post is scrubbed! Nada!

BENIDORM
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Re: Care homes and home care for the elderly

Postby BENIDORM » Fri Sep 28, 2018 8:07 am

Good posts Pamela and Gasman.! :thumbup:

Also the account by Pamela is very similar to my findings, although it really can vary from area to area, very similar to UK.
I assume that Pamela's family member to be Spanish, which obviously makes a difference with language etc., however from my experience I don't think that it would make much difference regarding care and attention if the resident was non Spanish, and I noted that in UK many of the care workers are non English, some with only basic English skills.

I've also visited the care home in my local village, at least 6 times this year, mainly because I'm involved with the local pensioners organisation, it's very clean and the staff very attentive and caring and they have regular events when they encourage the general public to attend.

Since I added the first reply I've asked some of the locals about how a resident is funded and it really seems to be based on the finances of the family, but this would have to be checked in the appropriate area.
I hope more members can add more information.

Regards,
Gordon.

Pamela1
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Re: Care homes and home care for the elderly

Postby Pamela1 » Fri Sep 28, 2018 10:30 pm

Gasman,
Thank you for the info on the missing posts, i really don't know what happened and it's happened on several occasions, it only ever seems to be when ive written a long post and after taking time out to compose them then yes it's really frustrating.

Gordon, Yes you are correct to assume the family member to be Spanish and i agree it does make a difference with the language although as you say the care and attention would probably be the same no matter what nationality.

Personally i think if you have the financial means to afford a nursing /care home should you need it in Spain then choosing the residence which would be right for you is important just as it is here in the Uk..I don't know other forum members circumstances nor would i ever ask but i do know of people who don't wish to end their days in Spain, an aunt of mine recently sold her house based on that reason.I think some people get to a certain age then start to think about the what if's and their comfort zone starts to waiver...It all depends on their circumstances and whether they have family here in the Uk or even how close knit they are.We are all different but for those who have no intention of returning to the Uk then i think you can be rest assured that there are good residencias in Andalucia. :)


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