About who needs care: My mom, Karen ("Kay") is an 85-year-old, former nurse, who has Dementia/Alzheimers. She is very strong willed and doesnot believe she needs daily help. I am an only child and I go to wake her and help her get ready for the day (i. e. I wake her, walk her to the bathroom, remind her to change to new Depends, make her coffee, pick out her clothes, help her get dressed if needed, put on her make up and curl her hair (she can do this but I usually do it to speed up the process), make her bed, and put in a load or two of laundry if needed. I walk with her down to lunch once she is ready and if I am able, I stay to eat lunch with her.
I do this every day.
On Wednesdays, we have an outing. We usually go to breakfast or lunch and then some sort of shopping. She LOVES to shop! TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Antiques, Belk, Dillards, Target -- really anywhere.
On Sundays, we try to go to church and brunch. That usually ends up being a full day of running around, shopping, etc.
My mom loves to read and shop. She also loves to swim but doesn't really swim often unless I really encourage her to swim at our pool.
She says she is "not a joiner" and therefore doesn't really like to participate in Bingo, or other group activities at Camellia unless someone drags her along.
Our biggest hurdle is she doesn't hear well (we are working on getting new hearing aids), so she often doesn't hear the phone and/or alarm clocks. She is a VERY heavy sleeper and will often sleep through dinner if she doesn't hear me call to wake her from a nap. She also will sleep late into the day without waking up. So.... she needs a human to wake her up :-)
About the care needs: Someone who is soft spoken and not a fast talking/salesperson type who is all about going to all of the activities. Someone who would like to go on a walk or just sit and talk about kids/pets/books/news.
I am honestly not sure what age would be best. Just someone who has A LOT of patience and who will not be discouraged if my Mom says she doesn't want them there.
We are originally from Wisconsin so it might be fun if the caregiver is from the Midwest.
Services needed include: meal preparation, errands / shopping, light housekeeping, companionship, feeding, and bathing / dressing. ... read more