Assisted Living At Home - Keeping Mom Dry When She Is Resistant To Change

This column supports the ever-changing needs and demands of family caregiving.

Thank you for the privilege of your time in being a faithful reader. In my work as a geriatric care manager, there are three main issues that most caregiving families deal with.

1. Where should care be provided; at home, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing home.
2. Where to find the money to pay for long-term adult care.
3. How to manage in-home care especially when there are dementia and/or mobility issues.

Most of the challenges of caregiving revolve around these three issues and the circumstances associated with them. In my last post, I discussed the option of combining in-home care and skilled therapy from Medicare and adult daycare. This week's question went like this;

My mom has the hardest time with change. We want to explore the use of Tranquility Adult Undergarments because we want to cut costs, reduce leaks, and urine odor but my mom will not wear a new undergarment. She wears one of the store brands which is gray in color with two poise pads. How do you help a dementia patient trying a new undergarment?

A: The good thing is that poise pads are white in color. Tranquility makes two kinds of white-colored inserts. One bladder control pad that is long and best for overnight use is called Tranquility® OverNight. The other is contoured and called Tranquility® Ultimate. The contoured Tranquility® Ultimate one is best for reducing leaks because it is wider in the peri area. Since she uses two poise pads, it would be easy to just replace the two poise pads with one Tranquility® Ultimate long insert pad. With the proper use, the insert along with the store brand pull-up should be able to keep her dry, leak-free, and odor-free. That one small change will reduce the cost significantly and reduce the number of needed changes, especially at night. I also recommend Tranquility® undergarments because they cost less, save you time, work, and hours of laundry. I like to say that it is CAREGIVER FRIENDLY.

If you would like a free sample of the Tranquility® insert or undergarment, please stop by Comforting Medical Supply at 139 N 21st St, St Helens, OR 97051 and I will have them for you. If you are reading this and are out of the area, send me a message about receiving a free sample.

Until next time, remember to take care of yourself while you are taking care of your loved one. -Katie