Super Fitness Health BlogIf your aging parent is on Medicare, and showing symptoms of dementia, the test at the geriatric assessment center is free. The cost may be that if you find that your aging parent has dementia, or some other chronic disease, the geriatric assessment usually requests a drastic change in the lifestyle of your aging parent. You may be forced to make quick changes, which, while they may need to be made, may seem drastic at the time. You may be asked to find a new home, or provide 24-hour care for your aging parent.
For this reason, you may find it important to get your family members involved before you take your parent for evaluation. Later, if guilt sets in for being the one to take action, you’ll have someone to share it with, and someone to remind you that you had no other choice. The hospital evaluation for dementia can be a real turning point in your aging parent’s life, and your life as well.
A geriatric Evaluation usually requires your elderly parent to spend several days in a hospital while undergoing physical and psychiatric tests, and evaluation by a medical and psychiatric team who specialize in geriatric disorders. The team will assess your parent’s condition, prescribe drugs, and help you plan for your aging parent’s future care.
The downside of the test is your aging parent may feel they are just fine and don’t need to go to any hospital for testing — even though they display obvious signs of dementia. They may also not want to face the fact that they’re losing their memory and their grip on life. Most elderly people enjoy their independence and don’t want to think about being mentally incompetent or dependent on another person for care. They may be very reluctant to find out the truth of their condition. Be gentle, and remind them that it’s what the doctor wants. A phrase that worked for me was “Let’s get it over with so you can feel better.” And “Let’s get a professional evaluation so you can feel better.”
Leaving your aging parent in a geriatric hospital for two days won’t be easy for you either. It wasn’t easy for me. If you’re not careful, guilt will begin to torment you. If you think it over carefully, you’ll realize that what you did, had to be done. Find someone you can talk to comfortably. Perhaps you can discuss it with a good friend of your aging parent – someone who can back you up and go with you and your parent to the evaluation center.
Talk with your other family members too. This whole episode, though one of great pain and tribulation, is a great opportunity to get to know your family better. It can bring you all together and make your family stronger. Don’t cheat any family member out of the chance to share emotions or memories with you during this episode in your parent’s experience. Pull out your Family Enlistment Form that hopefully you’ve signed as a kind of care-giving contract. This is the time to enforce it. Turn this misfortune into an opportunity to bond with your family. If you have a family member who isn’t ready to help, move on to the next one. Don’t hate them if they’re unable to join in to help your parent. You don’t know everything going on in their life at this time, so try not to be judgmental. This is a painful part of your journey through life – an opportunity for understanding and love. If your family doesn’t have the love, time, or understanding within them to help your aging parent, forgive them and move on. Some day they’ll probably regret their decision, and you can talk about it then. But right now, you need allies, friends, and support.
Once your parent gets to the hospital or testing facility, they’ll probably enjoy the attention and all the questioning they receive from the staff. They may even enjoy the time they spend in the center – especially if they’ve been living alone and have had few people to talk to.
Eventually, once the evaluation team has made a diagnoses they’ll discuss it with you as family members and recommend a treatment plan. Often this treatment plan doesn’t end with your parent getting well. What they are striving for is a plan that will help your aging parent care for themselves, or if unable to care for themselves, help them enjoy life so that someone can care for them.
The evaluation members may recommend a change in lifestyle, a change in your care giving technique, or they may recommend that you move your aging parent into a residential care facility where they can receive around-the-clock care. Somehow, even if he words are shocking, hearing them from professionals can help you start a plan of action as well as unite family members who may have once been doubters on your aging parent’s condition.