Beyond Retirement - Nursing Home v Hotel v........

Annieindublin said:
we added a ramp to my parents house, cost a ridiculous amount but it is weatherproof
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My father already said he will organise if and when needed. I am sure there will be a solution. However considering it's a new built following their own specifications for when they have difficulties to deal with their bigger house, I find it ridiculous not to actually have it done at that point. My house was built 20 years ago with no steps for the entrance. Even younger, we found it practical with prams.
 
As a former Citizens Information volunteer, I wonder whether the availability of these grants is widely known:-


Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability

Grants for alterations that need to be made to a home to make it suitable for a person with a physical, sensory or intellectual disability or a mental health difficulty.
www.citizensinformation.ie

Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People (Private Houses)

Information on housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability
www.gov.ie
 
We couldn’t get the grant, but we were able to get the VAT back. The builder supplied all the paperwork necessary.

Also I think it was included in the Med 1 that year. Not certain on that, we did likewise for ‘hospital beds’. Again the shop provided the paperwork
 
Some interesting discussion on retirement villages in this book by Pat O'Mahony and how they could work in an Irish context.

Written in 2020 but I've heard Pat on the radio a number of times since then promoting the concept.
Online version is free to read, or €10 for a hard copy.
 
My mother died in her own home at over 101 yrs in the midst of covidtimes. She 'escaped' from nursing homes four times in her last years. She had hip surgery following an car accident at 98 yrs and other falls in the house. Even with a person in the house, it comes to a stage where two people are needed to get a person up and also medical checkover. Ambulance crew were decent in this respect tho there were a couple of lengthy waits. There was a d st loo but a stair lift was installed with minimal fuss. When it was no longer needed it was removed with little damage to the stairway. We paid for private carer for hour a day even just for social visit. Later extra slots were added and in the last two yrs a live in carer stayed in the house and was 'on duty' from 8 am to 9 pm and with hours off in afternoon. This worked well with two foreign women who 'twinned' the arrangement and travelled back to their own country on breaks. They were well paid and it worked out around the same price as nursing home fee. On top of this expense was the cost of running the house. This was in UK and there was no state provided carer hours and no tax advantage. A last carer was not so good. My mother loved her garden and was a keen plantswoman. She had a gardener come to do the needful heavy jobs after my father died when she was 90 yrs. There was a relative living in same town. She had the 'alert' pendant/pendant. There was a coded keysafe discretely located outside the house that visiting carers/district nurses etc could use.
 
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Always remember age is but a number for all of us and when you tell someone that they need to put a ramp in, in effect you are telling someone who is 21 in their head that they are old and decrepit. Some people get it, most people need an incident to trigger it and we'll all probably be the same in due course

You're local Occ Health nurse can be a lifeline in terms of getting "stuff". A good one knows how to play the game

Alarm pendant systems are also great as is getting decent broadband for things like watching morning mass if they are in to that. Keysafes are also a great idea, I have my neighbours number to let emergency services in if they were needed.

If you are looking for a home care package from the HSE, never take the person home from hospital without it being signed off. In my bitter experience, they will think you can cope without it. That hour a day can be great for the family carers mental well being, if only to get out and get a walk in.
 
Just out of curiosity I asked the care agency who manage the home help for my parents, hse funded. They can provide an overnight carer who will stay and do breakfast, help them get them up. For €380 a week. We didn’t get into the exact T&C. We aren’t there yet. And add in the tax allowance and it’s pretty good value! Compared with nursing homes…

Now being cynical I assume there’s a carer or two that can’t find accommodation and this works for them as well as us. But good to know it’s an option if we need it.
 

Given our demographics, houses like this are going to cost a premium, and it may not be possible to "trade down" to get one if you're living in a large, old energy-inefficient house where you need to drive everywhere. I'm hoping a stair lift is the answer for us, as it would be difficult to adapt our downstairs to provide spacious self-contained living.
 
I don’t understand how they can provide that service for such a low price.

The agency has overheads and needs to make a bit as well, the carer has to be paid something to stay over, get your parents up and do breakfast.

I looked at it a few years ago for my dad who was on the maximum HSE care package of 21 hours a week. Even with the HSE paying for 21 hours, it still would have cost way more than a nursing home to have a carer overnight and a few additional hours during the day.
 
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