How to decide if family member with cognitive decline can be allowed to stay in home, living alone.
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You realistically know the answer. She is not capable of living outside a facility. If you do not want to remove the phone from her, block her calls + dont read her emails. If you are her contact with the facility, make sure THEY call you if there are issues. If you allow her to continue to harass you are allowing her to affect your own health. What would you tell a friend to do if they were living with this stress? Be honest and protect yourself as much as possible. Sorry you have to live with this.
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Oh, this is so hard. I agree with @terei; you know the answer, and so do we. No, she can’t live alone even with help.
What kind of “residential facility” is she in? Is it possible she needs a higher level of care?
Is it time to “lose” the phone? The facility can call if an issue comes up.
Is there direct help on the ground that could, for example, meet the ambulance at ER? It sounds as though you are in charge—with POA? It’s really tough to manage care from a distance.
I am sorry about your sister’s condition. I know it is really hard.
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Welcome. No! It would not be safe. I’m sorry. My mom also has vascular dementia and severe problems with executive functioning. She seems at times as if she has no problems, but I know she wants to go home so she can pull weeds in her garden, mow the lawn, power wash the swing…. She is not capable of any of these things, but believes she is. Mom has anosognosia so bad. I will attach a link. It is the inability of a person with dementia to recognize their own symptoms or limitations. It might help to increase anxiety medication or block all her calls and just call her once a day. If she complains that you’re not answering just blame it on your phone( it’s ok to fib). Don’t let her dementia bring you down. Take care of yourself, not just physically, but mentally.
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While your sister's home and neighborhood sound great a lot of PWD say they want to go home when what they really are really expressing a desire to go back to a time when they felt better , could do more - surrounded by long gone family members & friends . Combine that with anosognosia about their condition and there's no way to get the issue resolved with her understanding and accepting the situation.
I'd check with her Doctors and be sure she is on the best regiment to deal with her aggression and that her vitamin levels were checked since she had a history of heavy alcohol use . Plus her levels may have changed since I assume she doesn't get as much natural sunlight a she used to at home .
Here is a Teepa Snow video about going home . [ 15 minutes]
Some stray ideas - since she is on the phone a lot - is her access to her money limited so that she can't be scammed? If you are her DPOA or legal conservator look at freezing her credit report.
If she misses gardening can she maybe container garden where she is?
I'm really sorry you and your husband are going through this.
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Commonly Used Abbreviations
DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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