After my mom's extreme sundowning activities overwhelmed by father (who is 77 and nine years into a Parkinson's diagnosis himself) we were finally forced to take her to ER, as she refuses any type of medical intervention at home. We've spent a horrible six days in the hospital, during which my mom was given Haldol (an extreme anti-psychotic) for an episode. Since then, her despondency, anger, etc. has now become an all-day thing. We're working with geriatric healthcare navigator/advocate and were able to get her moved to a geriatric psych facility in the area (not our first choice, but not the last choice either). Our hope is that they will stabilize her so that we can move her into a much higher-quality, pleasant memory care facility near our house. We worry that if she doesn't stabilize, she'll just get kicked out of whatever long-care solution we find. But, my brother just followed the ambulance to the facility and said it terrible. I'm concerned that it seems like this whole experience so far has made things worse, rather than better. Does anyone have experience with Alzheimer's patients in geriatric psych units with good or bad outcomes? I'd love to hear your suggestions and thoughts.
But, it was a very nice unit in one of the floors of the hospital.
Locked down. Controlled Access. But pleasant and quiet.
Again, they did wonders getting Mom’s mood stabilized.
Good Luck (((Hugs)))
At the LTC facility, they usually begin to reduce the high dosages administered at geri psych as much as possible over the next weeks/months, ensuring that the patient doesn't get agitated again. But sometimes the patient becomes unmanageable again and is readmitted. It can be a nightmare, but it can be a blessing when there are no other choices.
The best advice is to check out the doctor treating Mom. Her life is in his hands.
Blessings,
Jamie
I do agree with the above. The Unit was sterile. Sparse actually. But under the circumstances there probably doesn’t need to be a lot of decoration or things that could become problems.
There will probably be specific short visiting times. Not a lot of visitors allowed or at random times.
My Mom fell several times while in the Unit. She then went to rehab in a Nursing Home then became a resident of that Nursing Home.
The Nursing Home had a contract with a Psych Service that tweaked Mom’s meds a few times over the years.
If this is your first experience with Psych Services it can be scary at first.
I hope the facility and staff are good and they can get your loved one feeling better soon.
(((Hugs)))