95 year old mother falling repeatedly in assisted living

[Anonymous]

She needs a 1-1 aide. Or, nursing home but even then they don’t do the required 2 hoyur checks. Can you put a camera in the room?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are bringing in hospice care per the recommendation of her GP. It is not considered end of life care (a learning point for us--I had misunderstood this about hospice) but will mean she has someone with her 24/7. Until that is in place we are putting a mattress on the floor and will take turns staying with her. The mats are ordered. They were suggested as a good idea even after the hospice aid is in place. Thank you all for your input.

Hospice is not All day and night care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would put a thin mattress on the floor next to her bed.

That sounds like a tripping hazard

Yeah the assisted living place will never allow this. It’s likely a violation of safety and fire rules

The fall mattresses are the new standards in more progressive states for senior protection.

Bedrails are illegal in my state as bed rails are considered restraints and there have been many deaths from bedrails. Restraints have serious controls in my state also.
The new standard is bed is dropped as low as possible to the floor. Gym pad (thin mattress on floor) is placed next to the floor. This is State of Florida law in nursing homes.

Florida has a lot of protective laws for seniors as we have so many seniors.

Does your mother have a hospital bed with electric up down controls? If not get her a hospital bed. EVery night have hospital bed lowered to the lowest setting.
Gym pad/fall protection goes next to the bed. You can buy these on Amazon.

[Anonymous]

Hospice may pay for a hospital bed. It did for my elderly relative in Virginia after she had a bad fall

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP. Talk with the assisted living to see if they have
any other bed options. You want an electric bed that can
drop as low as possible to the floor. Then the gym pad/fall
protection is put next to the bed. I've seen this in action in
nursing homes and the beds are dropped really low to the floor so if the resident falls or rolls out of bed there is only about an 8-10 inch drop from the top of mattress to they gym pad to reduce bone breaks.

I recently bought a hospital bed for Mom in Maryland. The vendor advised there is a trend away from the bed rails in Maryland although they still seem to be legal in Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Hospice in Maryland will get you a hospital bed. Push for one
with hand controls for up/down (not manual crank).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here with quick update. Second person at the facility has just told us that state regulations prevent the mats from being used as they are a hazard. I would understand that if they were left out all day but the idea is that they are out only after mom is in bed and folded and placed underneath the bed as soon as she is out of bed in the morning. We haven't cancelled the order yet and are still making sure they can't be used. BIL is a firefighter and has seen them in place in Virginia facilities so it may very from county to county or facility to facility but we are confused by the "state regulations" comment. Hard to get some things answered on a Sunday.

I think it is probably a facility and state by state set of regulations. I can tell you the mat system is heavily used in Florida nursing homes and bed rails have been discontinued
due to deaths from bed rails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would put a thin mattress on the floor next to her bed.

That sounds like a tripping hazard

Yeah the assisted living place will never allow this. It’s likely a violation of safety and fire rules

The fall mattresses are the new standards in more progressive states for senior protection.

Bedrails are illegal in my state as bed rails are considered restraints and there have been many deaths from bedrails. Restraints have serious controls in my state also.
The new standard is bed is dropped as low as possible to the floor. Gym pad (thin mattress on floor) is placed next to the floor. This is State of Florida law in nursing homes.

Florida has a lot of protective laws for seniors as we have so many seniors.

Does your mother have a hospital bed with electric up down controls? If not get her a hospital bed. EVery night have hospital bed lowered to the lowest setting.
Gym pad/fall protection goes next to the bed. You can buy these on Amazon.

Even for otherwise mobile adults who might struggle to get up from the floor or could lose their balance on a soft floor mat if they get up during the night to pee?

[Anonymous]

Can somebody recommend good bed mats? It seems like those would be good to have on hand before they are actually needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are bringing in hospice care per the recommendation of her GP. It is not considered end of life care (a learning point for us--I had misunderstood this about hospice) but will mean she has someone with her 24/7. Until that is in place we are putting a mattress on the floor and will take turns staying with her. The mats are ordered. They were suggested as a good idea even after the hospice aid is in place. Thank you all for your input.

Hospice is not All day and night care.

I may be wrong, but I don't know that hospice offers lift assist or help with bathroom/bathing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here with quick update. Second person at the facility has just told us that state regulations prevent the mats from being used as they are a hazard. I would understand that if they were left out all day but the idea is that they are out only after mom is in bed and folded and placed underneath the bed as soon as she is out of bed in the morning. We haven't cancelled the order yet and are still making sure they can't be used. BIL is a firefighter and has seen them in place in Virginia facilities so it may very from county to county or facility to facility but we are confused by the "state regulations" comment. Hard to get some things answered on a Sunday.

I think it is probably a facility and state by state set of regulations. I can tell you the mat system is heavily used in Florida nursing homes and bed rails have been discontinued
due to deaths from bed rails.

In MD, they have bed rails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are bringing in hospice care per the recommendation of her GP. It is not considered end of life care (a learning point for us--I had misunderstood this about hospice) but will mean she has someone with her 24/7. Until that is in place we are putting a mattress on the floor and will take turns staying with her. The mats are ordered. They were suggested as a good idea even after the hospice aid is in place. Thank you all for your input.

Hospice is not All day and night care.

I may be wrong, but I don't know that hospice offers lift assist or help with bathroom/bathing.

An aide will come in an hour or less a few days a week to help with bathing. A nurse will come a few times a week to check vitals. If she needs a higher level of care, you need to pay for an aide or nursing home (but care will not be better).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are bringing in hospice care per the recommendation of her GP. It is not considered end of life care (a learning point for us--I had misunderstood this about hospice) but will mean she has someone with her 24/7. Until that is in place we are putting a mattress on the floor and will take turns staying with her. The mats are ordered. They were suggested as a good idea even after the hospice aid is in place. Thank you all for your input.

Hospice **is** end-of-life care, OP - you literally cannot be approved unless you have a prognosis of less than 6 months, and they are pretty stringent about that (by necessity) with the very elderly and people with dementia. And if it is a service coming to your mother's AL facility, it won't be 24/7; it will be an occasional supplement to her existing support system. (If she's being transferred to a hospice house, staff there are round the clock.)

[Anonymous]

Yes, your physician is wrong. Hospice is end of life care. Hospital bed would be ideal. Also, is the facility continued care? May be time to move to higher level care or as mentioned hire a night nurse to monitor. Yes, they do fall asleep and miss falls, but even in your own home you would miss some things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are bringing in hospice care per the recommendation of her GP. It is not considered end of life care (a learning point for us--I had misunderstood this about hospice) but will mean she has someone with her 24/7. Until that is in place we are putting a mattress on the floor and will take turns staying with her. The mats are ordered. They were suggested as a good idea even after the hospice aid is in place. Thank you all for your input.

Hospice is not All day and night care.

+1. Hospice is great but it is not 24/7 care.