Home Care Escondido Dementia Neighbors

Some Lessons About Neighborliness

Neighbors Are Important To Your Senior With Dementia, Even With Home Care in Escondido

How long has your senior loved one lived in his or her neighborhood? A decade? Fifty years? If he has deep roots at his current home, he probably knows most of his neighbors quite well. This can be a great blessing if dementia or physical frailty create difficulty, as watchful neighbors are often willing to lend a hand. On the other hand, the changes of old age can also create friction with the neighbors.

Here at A Servant’s Heart Care Solutions, where we provide home care in Escondido and everywhere else in San Diego County, we encourage families of seniors to make contact with the seniors’ neighbors, make sure there are no problems you should know about, and establish a good relationship with them.

A Misunderstood Gesture

We found ourselves alerted to this potential problem recently by a story that made national headlines. A number of families in Orange County discovered porcelain dolls left on their doorsteps without explanation. While the mysterious gifts may have been simply confusing, another factor made them downright troubling: each doll shared a resemblance to a little girl who lived in the home. With concerns about stalking and potential abduction, police worked overtime to track the source of the dolls.

In the end, police found that a friendly elderly woman was disposing of her doll collection by donating them to local girls that she thought would enjoy them. Although her intentions were generous and thoughtful, her methods gave parents quite a scare.

Adjusting to Life with a Senior

As seniors become more afflicted by dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, their social skills decline as well. While the lady with the dolls may have been simply misguided in her actions, other elderly people may engage in odd, dangerous, and even violent behavior as they interact with others. For their own safety, seniors in this position should not be left to communicate with neighbors unsupervised. A family member can help by spending as much time as possible with his senior parent, but at some point, constant companionship will be necessary.

24-Hour Home Care in San Diego County

When families look at one another and realize that their elderly loved one truly needs round-the-clock supervision, they often assume that means moving into a nursing home. Not so fast! A good geriatric care manager can review your entire family’s situation and help you devise a plan that will accommodate everyone’s busy schedule but also allow the senior to remain in her own home and neighborhood.  This may include hiring professional providers of  home care in San Diego County like A Servant’s Heart Care Solutions, who can assign staff to spend as much time as necessary at the house. Even overnight stays are possible if there is no family member who can sleep at the senior’s home on a regular basis.

A senior with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease often faces many frightening life changes—we want to help you smooth the path as much as possible.

Photo by pedrosimoes7

Tim Colling
Tim Colling

Tim Colling is the founder and President of A Servant's Heart In-Home Care, which provided in-home caregiving services in San Diego County, and also of A Servant's Heart Geriatric Care Management, which provided
professional geriatric care management services and long term care placement services in San Diego County. Tim has more than 30 years of experience in management in a variety of industries. He held a Certified Care Manager credential from the National Academy of Certified Care Managers. Tim is also a Certified Public Accountant (retired), and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from California State University at San Diego. In addition to writing blog posts here for the Servant’s Heart blog, Tim also is a regular contributor to HealthLine.com and to FamilyAffaires.com as well as blogs of other eldercare services provider companies. Finally, Tim is also the president of A Servant's Heart Web Design and Marketing, which provides home care marketing as well as website design and online marketing for those who serve the elderly and their families.

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