What did Dad’s diagnosis of dementia mean for him and for us, his family? We’ll discuss the challenges Dad faced in the months and years after he was diagnosed and what we did to support him.
Mum’s care for Dad was incredible and we made sure we supported her as well, so that she could continue to care for Dad.
Focusing on what we could influence and keeping Dad well and content was key to looking after Dad.
In this episode:
- The difficult conversations with Mum
- Aricept improved Dad’s cognition but there would be no miracle cure
- We focused on what we could influence – keeping Dad well and content
- Delirium and it’s causes
- Supporting Mum
- Sundowning
- The home care package helped us support Dad but wasn’t enough to meet Dad’s needs
- The difficulty when Dad developed delirium several times
- Managing Dad’s delirium
Resources mentioned:
Related episodes:
Connect with Coral Wilkinson:
More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast:
Are you supporting an older loved one at home and ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is aimed at anyone who is caring for an older loved one who still lives at home and is wondering what support is available to them.
We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.
Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.
Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is now client care manager for our business.
Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. We reached a point however, of needing extra support and we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well, we knew what programs could assist us and our parents.
This podcast, Your Aged Care Compass, brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our own ageing parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home.
We will help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system, from your first contact with My Aged Care through to the different funding streams and assessment workforces, management options for home care packages and extra funding that people might be eligible for.
There's so much more. Topics relating to dementia and legal and financial considerations will be covered, as well as real life stories of where it went wrong for people and how we guided them to get it right.
Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones.
Like what you hear? Please leave us a Rating and Review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.
