7/5/11 Cameo Caregivers

From S (aka, El Monosabio or El Nene)

Is - please have Syed let us know how your Dr visit goes today. Take care and if there's anything you or the familia needs, please let me know.

Regarding having someone come in to see Mom, I'm setting up a meeting with Cameo. Here's how it works:

1. There's an assessment meeting (interview) with a nurse, the family, and the patient. the meeting would be held in Mom's house.
   
2. We explain what we're looking for, and the nurse tells us (separately) what she thinks we need.
3. We make a decision about how frequently and what services. We can also request services on an ad hoc basis.
   
4. We're billed monthly.

Ok, that said, here's how I'm suggesting we proceed:

1. I've already told Mom that I'm going to have someone come help her around the house. I've told her that she doesn't really have a choice. I'm not mean to her about it by any means, but I am firm (and somewhat light-hearted). I will remind of her of this daily. It would be helpful (I think) if you two would join in and tell mom that we're all on the same page regarding her having some help.
   
2. I'm not sure what I'm going to tell her about the nurse interview. I suppose when I talk to the nurse I'll set it up, and once again try to have her understand that Mom doesn't really understand what's going on with her health and that we've not told her about the (presumed) Alzheimers.
3. I've specified that we want someone who speaks Spanish.
4. I'm suggesting Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour, just so we can get this thing started. The cost is about $75 per week. The more hours we have them come in, the lower the marginal cost. For max usage, it works out to about $17 per hour.
   
5. I would also suggest that once the caregiver is selected / assigned, that one of us be there for the first couple of visits. That might help mom deal with it.
6. The timeframe is pretty quick. I'll schedule the interview as soon as I can with the nurse.