Question for those with LO in MC

Rescue mom

My DH with Alzheimer’s enters MC facility this week—much faster, and much different circumstances than imagined. He fell New Years, shattered hip, total hip replacement required, with loss of cognitive abilities (not as bad as I feared, but definitely lost ground), and weeks of rehab. Still mobility impaired.  My own health problems Re-emerged, worse.  So…placement.

I visited five places. My first choice is still under repair from hurricane, and not available for a month. (And if they say a month to finish construction, it’s two). But I had to have one now because he is discharged from rehab and cannot come home by all/agency/official agreement.

It seems like all these places, when I was there (often repeat visits), had some residents making a LOT of noise. Mostly yelling out, not saying anything in particular, just yelling or loud gibberish. Sometimes they’re sitting, sometimes walking around yelling. (Virtually all  are mobile; no bed-bound residents here).

 Aides would try to quiet/distract, but they’d start again immediately. I could see other residents getting upset, while some could ignore it.

DH doesn’t know much, but he IS aware of his surroundings, and noise like this elsewhere bothered him. 

I have to wonder how common this is, and how long do aides let it go on without doing more to quiet or move them?

Ed1937

I didn't get to visit my wife much at all. She was in there for 3 weeks before she passed. But our kids were up there just about every day, and I don't think that was much of a problem there. But I think it is pretty common.

Sorry to hear you are having your own problems. Hopefully placement will help you heal.

Beachfan

Rescue Mom,

First of all, best of luck with this endeavor.  It’s hard enough to contemplate and actually pursue placement without extenuating circumstances.  Hopefully, this will not be an ongoing issue.

DH’s MCF is quiet; however, there are only 16 residents at capacity.  I visit once a week and once or twice, several of the ladies have gotten into a verbal battle, but even that was quiet and quickly quelled by staff. (10 minutes later, these same ladies were seated together, chatting and giggling.)   DH is also startled by loud or unexpected noises; prior to placement,  the grandkids whooping it up could agitate him.  I think the small facility and low population has much to do with the appeal of DH’s residence; it struck me very much like “home” when I was researching/visiting.  That’s a major reason for my choice.  I hope all goes well for you.  You both need time to rest and recuperate.  Best wishes.  

harshedbuzz

Rescue Mom-

It is really hard to say. Since a quality MCF will allow a resident to age-in-place, this kind of behavior can happen at any place that isn't cherry-picking. 

I saw a couple of women become agitated and mumble loudly at times. I was even lunged at by one resident who was quickly pulled back by the aide walking with her. But mostly, it was fairly quiet. Dad's MCF was purpose-built. The "neighborhood's" common room and kitchen/dining room were generally busy as were the larger activity spaces that serves all 4 neighborhoods, but the center atrium, outdoor garden patio and rooms were quiet.

I would caution that turn-over is common. Dad was in MC for about 8 weeks before he passed. I believe he was in the same chain as Beach Fan's DH but that the facility was larger-- 4 neighborhoods with 10-12 rooms each. During that time, one neighborhood was closed because the number of residents dropped, 3 of the male residents in his hall left (one died, one transferred to a place closer to his DD and one went to a SNF after a hospitalization), a few more people moved in. The population at any time is just a snapshot. 

HB

Vitruvius

My DW is in a facility with 30 residents in three cottages. I visit often. I rarely hear any load outbursts and when they happen aides seem to quickly intervene.

That said, a facility with no bed bound residents is a huge red flag for me. It may mean that as patients get to the later stages of dementia they are "turfed out" to other facilities. I specifically wanted to be sure my DW could remain in her MCF until the end. 

Joe C.

I would not say it is common to have a outburst from another resident but I have seen it. My observation is that these outburst are often from newer residents that “want to go home” or “get out of here”, in these people the outburst generally subside after some adjustments period. The are other residents that just have a poorer disposition and with these people they have good & bad days with a lot of complaining on bad days. I suppose the difference from what you are describing is I almost always know what there outburst are about, it’s not gibberish, more they are not happy about one thing or another.

M1

Hi Rescue mom. If you’ve read my other threads, my partner is coming up on ten months in MC and I am considering a move. Her facility is small, she is claustrophobic, and there are no spaces except her room where she can get away from disruptive residents. She remains very aware of her surroundings and is among the most functional on the unit, very capable of being bothered by such things, and it is now manifesting as not only continued begging for me to get her out of there, but now also by isolating herself and not eating. I’m hoping for a move this spring to a place that’s bigger and has more activities as well as more people at her level. Hope you can find such a place because it may in fact matter depending on his level. Keep us posted.

GothicGremlin

My sister's memory care facility holds 24 people, and right now I'd say there's probably 18 people there, but it goes up and down. 

Peggy has been in memory care now for a year and almost four months.  During that time there has been a lot of resident turnover, which I guess is common.  I've seen a few outbursts but nothing out of the ordinary, and there are enough caregivers there that they're able to take care of things fairly quickly.

All of that said, I've never been there at night, so I don't know what that looks like. I also don't tend to visit on Sundays, which I know is a big visiting day, so I don't know how loud it gets. I know that if I call Peggy on the memory care phone on a Sunday, she'll occasionally tell me that it's loud, and I can indeed hear children in the background.  Then again Peggy's at the stage where any more than four people is a crowd.

So I guess it's all a balance?

DJnAZ

The facility (rehab, memory care, skilled nursing long term care) where my wife was placed almost 9 months ago is larger (100+ patients) than those described on this thread. Unfortunately it is the only facility in our non-metro area that had an available room/bed and would accept her Medicade LTC insurance. Although my wife is physically able to take care of herself, she is considered in the "memory care" section that happens to be within the long term care skilled nursing area.

So to get to your concern about noise...the short answer is it can be somewhat noisy with various noise and vocal outbursts from other patients. But overall I believe the noise level is acceptable considering the circumstances. I have not been there at night.

To me the vocalizations and noises by other patients is unnerving and very distracting. But my wife has global aphasia and simply doesn't appear bothered by much of anything. At least I hope she isn't.

I am searching for another facility that is memory care and assisted living only as well as a smaller patient population. Being in a rehab and skilled nursing environment is not what she needs. She needs to be with patients with memory issues. Finding a place is going to be challenging at best due to staffing issues and insurance coverage.

dayn2nite2

I've been in my share of facilities and there are always a few who are loud intermittently - yelling "help" or similar.  Truthfully, it becomes part of the background after a while.  It's jarring at first, but you really don't notice it after a while, it's like "oh, that's her...that's how he is" and I looked at it as a good thing, that they work with these outbursts instead of medicating them away until the person is a zombie.