Prepping for elderly relatives

[Medusa]

My Dad is amazing, he is in his late 80's and often goes out for a stoll and then tells me he walked about 20k steps. His physical health is pretty great considering his age. Cognitively his memory is not as good as it was, but we see this as old age and not dementia, so no worries about leaving the cooker on, not locking doors etc at least for now. My sister orders his shopping and pays his bills as my Mum used to do this (she was amazing too!). He comes to ours twice a week for tea and takes another meal home each time. I also stock up his freezer with meals as much as I can. Today his water went off as there was a huge leak close by which I was aware of so phoned and luckily it had come back on although with a reduced pressure. I've said that I will buy a few bottles of water in case the same happens again, possible, as a huge housing estate is due to be built close by, along with a school and various big roadworks. He has a couple of torches (I might invest in another couple so he has one in every room). His caravan (triple locked with tow bar and wheel clamps) is in the drive so if the electric or gas went he could use that to keep warm and cook and we arent too far away. He has smoke alarms, I have just got him a CO monitor and he has a heated throw too. He had 10 expired fire extinguishers in the garage which we have disposed of and would rather he got out than tried to firefight. He has a phone and can use it, but takes little notice of emails or random calls from unknown numbers and is aware not to give his bank details (tested recently)He has at least two phone calls and 4 texts a day from sister and I to check on him and we arent at the stage of needing a falls alarm right now. We do his small repair jobs and organise anything bigger, his gas checks and repairs are taken care of by our son. He has a will and we have POA for money and health. I tried to watch his house on the land register due to lots of fraud warnings but it isnt listed as was built a long time ago and owned from new so was not listed. If in time we need to install cameras we will. Are we missing anything for now?

[Yorkshire Andy]

Few of these for my dad and mum..

https://www.xtra-lite.com/products/nite ... 8QQAvD_BwE

Were in lidl £6 each about a week ago..

They have them at the bottom of the stairs and the top landing so a midnight loo trip they don't need to use the big lights. The side lamp comes on


Power cut or lift It off the base the top lamps comes on and you can use it as a torch..

[pseudonym]

Have a list of foodstuffs, meals and medicines and tick off what he uses daily.

I found my Father was missing days of his medicine towards the end, I never thought to check

[Frnc]

Sounds very comprehensive. Fall panic alarm is an obvious addition. Motion sensor lights on stairs and landing are a very good idea. Those detachable ones are cool. I have a head torch on my bed.

Make sure he has some easy to put on shoes in his bedroom in case of evacuation.

Make sure he uses stairs carefully, holding hand rail. Ideally he should wear shoes with good treads on the stairs to avoid slips. I slipped coming down mine a few weeks ago, and ended up on my backside. I've ordered some trainers with one velcro strap for indoors, but I won't wear them in my room. My lodger told me yesterday his daughter had moved house, wasn't used to it.... thought she'd got down the stairs to the hall, but was on the bottom step. So she fell the height of one step, and broke her foot!

Check his electricals. For example, we found out my mum and dad were leaving an electic fan heater on in the the conservatory and relying on the thermostat. I can't remember if it was on at night, or while they were out, but I remember my sister freaking out, and me quietly saying it wasn't safe.

Good practice, for example not running two high powered deviced from same double socket or extension simultaneously. Kitchen appliance unplugged when not in use. Personally, I turn all the wall plug switches off in the kitchen, apart from the one the washing machine is plugged into, as it is hidden behind a drawer. But I make sure washing machine is turned off. You shouldn't go out with it running.

I even turn everything off in my bedroom if I go out, including wall sockets that extension leads are plugged into. I don't leave my hair dryer plugged in.

[GillyBee]

A grab bag suitable for a hospital stay in case he does suddenly need to go in. Waiting for the ambulance is never a good time to start packing. If he is resistant to the idea then at least a checklist of essentials will help whoever is packing to avoid missing anything in the heat of the moment. (We forgot reading glasses which was a right pain.)
And something like these are good for night time dark hallways https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MHVTHQS? ... n_title_12

[Frnc]

These are good, charging two now actually. They last for months in betwen charges, even though sometimes I use them instead of the landing light.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Q9JFH1Y

I have one just above the bottom of the stairs, one at the end of the landing. The landing one lights when you get near the top of the stairs. Three would probably be better. They come in 3s, but I put the other in the prep room. That one is stuck to a drawer actually, and is in there because that room is my preferred fire exit if the hall/stairs are not viable.

[Medusa]

Some good ideas there, thanks. Provided the (tested) CO monitor tonight for his gas boiler, need another now for his lounge for the gas fire. Also asked how long since he tested his smoke alarms which were provided by the fire service. He said he hadnt, so something to do next week. Also realised that his outdoor PIR lights arent as bright as they should be so will replace. My sister has his phone on a tracker so we can see where he is, if he doesnt answer his mobile or landline which does happen occasionally.

[ForgeCorvus]

I think one of the main things is to try to check on him without him knowing that you're checking on him....... Wanting to "not be a burden" seems to be a very common trait.
Herself worked as a Carer and on a couple of occasions found someone on the floor who'd been there since the last call (sometimes all night) because they " didn't want to bother anyone".