Wednesday 11 October 2017

A "My Aged Care"

person is supposed to come this morning - to see what help the Senior Cat (and thus Yours Truly) needs and whether he will be eligible for any.
My brother asked me on Monday what I hoped might be the outcome of the visit. I told him I was not expecting too much. They don't give help if they think there are family members who can do it. It doesn't matter that the Senior Cat worked and paid tax all his life. He still won't be eligible for much assistance - even if he pays for it.
But there are two things I would like. The first is someone else to help him shower. This has been worrying me for quite a while now. I discreetly "hovered" while he did this himself. I worried that he would fall and break a hip - or worse.  He could easily do that anyway but bathrooms are the worst rooms in any house for that to happen. 
The hospital put something in place "on a temporary basis" when he came home after being hospitalised with the 'flu bug which laid us both so low. They were sufficiently concerned to keep it going longer than they said they would. I am very grateful for that. Secretly I think the Senior Cat is too - certainly he has purred rather than growled at the people who have come. (We have yet another new person coming today - the variety seems endless!)
The second thing I would like is some  help with transport. The Senior Cat has "50%" taxi vouchers. It means he pays half the normal fair. He was given those when he broke his leg some years ago. Once he had recovered they were continued because his doctor at the time realised that public transport without some help was not an option. 
Since then public transport is not an option at all. The Senior Cat would not be able to get his gopher on and off the train or an accessible bus. He simply would not be safe and he couldn't walk the required distances. 
Even using a taxi is something he should no longer do alone. Taxi drivers, understandably, vary in their ability to help and understand the need for help. It means someone needs to go with him. Middle Cat has been very, very good about being the "taxi" service but when she was recently too ill to help it meant I was going with him - in a taxi. I can take work with me while I wait but it can still take some hours. If necessary Middle Cat can take him to his destination and go and do something else and then return and pick him up again. I can't drive so I just have to wait. Neighbours have done it twice but it is wrong to ask it of them except in an absolute emergency. The MAC system may be able to help here. 
So, if we get nothing more out of the visit - and we have put in place things like grab rails, a shower chair,  help with gardening and so on - please can we have a little bit of help with showering and transport? 
After all, keeping  him here at home is where he wants to be - and it would be much cheaper for the government too. 

4 comments:

kayT said...

Good luck! Your wants are so minor in the scheme of things that I hope they are easily granted.

Jodiebodie said...

The things you need shouldn't be too hard, surely!

Maria Smith said...

Do you provide any type of Age care course as well? If yes, where do you have the service?

I want to enroll for a certificate iii in individual support (ageing) course. Let me know about it.

Thanks for sharing !!

catdownunder said...

hello Maria
I don'r know anything about courses really. If you live in Australia then ask about them through Technical and Further Education (TAFE) departments.