First, I want to say that I find so much comfort and support from this community. To know there are so many people out there dealing with the same situation I am in means so much. My mother has Alzheimer's and has been suffering for about 10 years. In the last year she is experiencing a dramatic decline. She is sundowning terribly. She becomes another person during this time . She has become violent and hit someone in her assisted living facility. Because of this incident and the fact that they have not been able to get her medication regulated over the last couple of months, she was sent to a geriatric psychiatric hospital for evaluation. This broke my heart for her to be sent there. I feel like she doesn't belong there, but deep down I know this is what has to happen right now. I'm not sure what's going to happen, every day at the hospital has been different, most days okay. But she's had days where she is refusing meds and had a violent incident last night, where she was hitting people. They had to give her an injection of her meds to calm her down. I cannot believe that it has come to this point with her. My mother has never been violent in her life. My question is has anyone dealt with this and what happens if my assisted living facility won't take her back and she can't stay at the hospital more than what Medicare will allow? I have to call the social worker today to try to get some guidance, But was hoping someone here could offer some guidance. Thanks
I am sorry for what you are going through. First, whatever you do, don't sign as the responsible party if the hospital wants to discharge her. Then it becomes your problem. If they pressure you to sign, repeat "I can't provide a safe environment for her."
Right now, it is the problem of the hospital and the social worker to ensure that she has somewhere safe to go after discharge. There are long-term psychiatric facilities in every state and sometimes violent Alzheimer's patients end up in these facilities if they can't be managed with medication.
As far as who pays. You may get some short-term coverage from Medicare. Then it usually becomes a private pay situation by using your Mother's income and assets. When those run out, then Medicaid steps in. You are not typically obligated to pay for your Mother's care unless you do so voluntarily.
Jamie
depending on mom's finances you might consider a more memory care oriented facility rather than a pure assisted living center
Mom's memory care lets behavior go a little too far sometimes before calling 911 for a psych hold but then mom too has been one of their troublemakers and even now that she is in mobile will still try to scratch or pinch if she feels threatened - some of the longer term staff know her enough to deal with it and accept in the next moment when she does an about face and tells them how wonderful they are
Hopefully the psych hospital will find the right meds to manage mom without turning her into a zombie
Let us know what the social worker tells you