Home caregiving is not always a choice, but for CareGivingOldGuy, it seemed the best fit for us as a couple, and as a family. Even with the progression of the condition through its later stages, there’s no place like home for its moments of comfort, not to mention personalized music, food and temperature choices!
This is the 21st Century, and no matter what the choice, there seems to be a price tag attached. An AARP study five years ago (2016) determined that family caregiver personal out-of-pocket costs were $7000/year (the methods seems to exclude the cost of home agency caregivers).
An AARP news item (2019) estimates that institutional memory care is about $60,000/ year. Medicare doesn’t usually cover expenses at home or in a nursing facility, but a state Medicaid program might help in some places.
In the meantime, adaptations to the home and “inventing” ways to facilitate care are right up the alley for the CareGivingOldGuy! Three things here, from cheap to expensive…
Problem: Mobility and positioning in bed. Solution: “Slide sheet” from clearance item curtain. As mobility became an issue, various “transfers” from wheelchair to bed, even in the bed itself have been problematic. Finding a clearance curtain, made of some slippery polyester fabric for $10 (marked down from $70) and using a plastic-backed underpad, allows enough friction reduction for a sliding arrangement.
One can sit on the end of the bed, lie back on the underpad, and then can be pushed at the hips or pulled up to the pillows. Rolling side to side allows the curtain sheet to be removed, while the underpad stays in place, and other bedtime accommodations are made.
Problem: Pressure Ulcer prevention. Solution: Memory foam rug pad with moisture absorbing underpad on top, on a couch. Changing positions frequently is important to prevent pressure ulcers, along with padding. This arrangement allows for fairly easy repositioning, easy to clean if soiled.
Problem: Hygiene with mobility problems. Solution: we discussed using a shower chair in a post. As standing and walking became an issue, and showering required two caregivers for safety, the shower stall itself became too small.
A few years ago we took the big step of removing a bathtub and replacing it with a 60″ x 32″ shower stall. We called around, and the most reasonable was ~$7500 to remove the tub, install the stall floor with new surrounding walls and fixtures, all in one day.
It actually happened in one day, but it was a long 12 hours, all by one guy. He basically took a sawzall to chunk out the fiberglass tub, and removed wall board down to the studs. The prefab stall and walls went up pretty fast. The floor has a built-in slope down to the drain. There is also a lip to prevent water dripping all over the floor, part of local building codes.
[The measuring tape is extended out 36″, but if you include the yellow body of the device, it’s basically a meter in length].
You can probably spot the OldGuy duct tape and wood wedge ramp to facilitate getting the shower chair in and out. Commercial ramps didn’t have the specs needed. Also some “nonslip” memory foam bathroom rugs are used, with a shower curtain that reminds us of the beach!
This has been important to maintain personal hygiene, the mobile shower head is essential to use, and the stall easy to clean. It has allowed us to continue fundamental care at home. Maybe a hardy DIY-er could pull it off, but CareGivingOldGuy is not that confident. So it was expensive, but our best return on investment?
