Who's taking care of mom?
When you have a parent at an ALF, you might think to take your questions about their care to the Executive Director, or even to the nurse. But I would recommend skipping those people and heading for those who know mom or dad best – the care givers. At our community we refer to them as Personal Care Attendants, or PCAs. These are the guys and gals who get our residents up in the morning, help them get dressed, take them to meals and activities, help them use the toilet (yep, wipe and all), assist with bathing, do their hair, and tuck them into bed at night. These are the people who know your parent the best, maybe even better than you do these days. That’s who you want to talk to.
I’m lucky enough to work with some absolutely INCREDIBLE staff. These people are in the trenches. They are working with elderly residents, doing very intimate and often gross tasks, and taking it all in stride. My residents aren’t always the nicest; when you’re throwing out someone’s used tissue and they’re doing nothing but shouting racial slurs at you, you have to basically be a saint to keep your mouth shut, throw the slimy tissue away, and move along. This is a real situation I have witnessed right outside my office door. I don’t have kids, but it’s along the lines of what I imagine having kids is like…minus the racial slurs (hopefully).
We’re having some snow today, which is rare, and our thoughtful PCAs took time out of their busy day to bundle up several of our bed-bound residents and take them outside in the snow. I watched the staff member in the photo at the top block this resident from the wind with her own body, stroke her hair, and talk with her about her memories of snow from when she was younger. The three of us were outside for maybe five minutes, and this resident might not remember her excursion by dinner time, but what a thoughtful gesture. That’s how I’d want someone to treat my parents. That’s how I strive to treat my residents. And I’m learning from our in-the-trenches front-line staff every day.
Here are some more pictures from my many work breaks today:
The tiniest snowball that you ever did see (if you can indeed see it)
Snowball fight with a resident on the back patio (this is the resident who calls me '6-foot')
Michael & I went out in the snow - he refused to put on a coat, so we didn't stay out long
