GetHealthHelp

Sometimes there isn’t any help.

The past few months have been busy with helping one of our favorite clients move. We set up a new blog for BeverlyTaylorJDL at worpress. Beverly just turned 86. We are going through everything she wants to have preserved and getting prices for things that will be sold to free up some space.

Peter is also moving, back to New Hampshire. He is recovering from knee surgery and can now live independently. We’ll be helping him pack up over the Labor Day holiday.

We’ve arranged for White Glove Consulting to help Arnold get the social services he needs, after a year of rejections and setbacks.

It’s great when you can help someone and accomplish what you set out to do. But sometimes, you just have to recognize that nothing more can be done. Issues related to mental health are something we’ve only dealt with in regards to seniors, dementia, Alzheimer’s, hoarding and personality changes. For the past few months, we’ve been helping a younger patient find health services. She came to us complaining of chronic fatigue and insomnia. As usual, we started with getting a medical clearance. Then, we arranged for a psycho-social exam for housing. We’ve gained an appreciation of the adult home business. They are truly dedicated people. The psychological assessment opened up a new diagnosis that changed our approach entirely. We were able to find many services that would have helped the patient. However, in our journey with her we found that she had a history of resistance to care and substance abuse. She was also under the influence of people who enabled her behavior.

After discussions with the psychiatrists, attorneys, the Department of Health, Abuse Victim Advocates and Mental Health Specialists we decided to end her services. This was a very difficult decision and one that included her family. They assured us that many had tried to help, but it was time to throw in the towel. The family will now move towards appointing a legal guardian. I’ve been told that we did help in many ways, just maybe not in the way we hoped.

August 23, 2011 - Posted by Aging Icon | Uncategorized | adult home, help, insomnia, mental health, substance abuse