I happened to be at a friends for a coffee last night when she got a phone call and was chatting ,
I wasn’t paying attention until she passed the phone to me and said it’s Ruth on the line ,
We had a quick hello and my friend arranged for us to meet up with her today at Robert’s house
So this afternoon before we left I picked Ruth a nice bunch of petunias from my garden and then picked up my friend and we went to Robert’s to visit .
Ruth and Robert were pleased to see us both and we sat down in the lounge
It’s interesting to more closely observe and converse with someone with early onset of Alzheimers ,
My friend works in the age care sector so she is well rehearsed at keeping the conversation flowing ,
Ruth knows that she has Alzheimers and she becomes a little frustrated when she can’t finish a sentence or think of a word ,
as she has always been a well articulated lady .
We all spoke about what it’s like for her going into full time care ,
She doesn’t like it ,and there are a few reasons that she gave why ,
Firstly
she has lost two kg in a few weeks and she told me that she was hungry, and didn’t get enough food , so a quick check of her allocation meal size at the office and they can sort that ,
She says it’s too busy in there with lots of people everywhere and it’s not relaxing enough ,
Also she said that other patients call and scream out during the night disturbing her .
She says also that they are a bit too rough waking her in the morning as she is used to waking up peacefully.
So that is one lady’s incite into going from living in her home independently to being admitted to an aged care facility, it must be a difficult transition especially if you have incite into what is actually going on in your surroundings and your true wishes are to be living at your home .
It’s unfortunate but this is how so many of us will end up eventually for one reason or another and when our circumstances change , but if we are lucky enough to have family or friends to help us out and to help us keep living with our independence .
This is what packages of funding that are granted to clients that are assessed and fit the criteria to help keep them living out in the wider community.
This aged sector and federal funding for it is becoming larger and larger all the time it’s currently a figure of
37.2 billion dollars
Maybe some of the funding could be somehow distributed to more needy clients as it is actually intended in the first place and with budget costings that are that high in the aged sector maybe in need of a tougher and more open scrutiny of funding and it’s distribution wouldn’t go astray
And I guess that our little group is going to catch up again in about three or four weeks ,
So that will be nice I hope Ruth has been able to settle in a bit more by then and is wearing her grin.