salamanda

Hello everyone, My mother, originally from Scotland, has been diagnosed with dementia. She has been living in Luxembourg for near enough 30 years, however now that she is retired she is all of a sudden pretty isolated.She has mostly been surrounded by native english speakers in her daily life there and is starting to forget her other languages therefore communication and networking isn't too obvious. To take measures in case her state deteriorates, we had a look at a home specialising in dementia patients, however it became very clear that she would be completely isolated there as none of the "inmates" speak english and the even the nurses and other staff have limited knowledge of english and would struggle understanding as does she struggle following a conversation in luxembourgish. She brightens up incredibly when she can chat away to people as she was used to in Scotland, so she has been considering moving back. As I am not in the ideal position to look after her, I considered sheltered accomodation, or a home that specializes. However she would have to be diagnosed by a GP here first, and then it may take quite a long time before she could get a place. In addition any travel could be quite stressful for her, so I am trying to minimise this. apologies for the long wounded story, but I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and could advise me? many thanks.

lf1

I do have some experience dealing with relatives with dementia, but I don't think I can shed any light on your specific situation. I would contact Age Concern UK or the Alzheimer's Society. Perhaps, they could point you in the right direction for finding the best options for your mum.

I wish you all the best.

pennylessinindia

Choosing appropriate care will be hard if your mother is still overseas, especially as it would be good to involve her in any choice of provision. Could she come and live with you for a short while so that she is with a familiar person whilst you are looking at care options. If she is self funding then the finding of provision could be quite quick but if you are reliant on the state then as you say the assessment process may take a little while.
Age UK produce a little guide to help choosing provision website is good too
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/care-homes/
Also Which? do a guide to care homes very well written and should be in the Library
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/ex...are-homes.html makes for interesting reading if a little dated

salamanda

Yes choosing care has proven difficult and like you said it strikes me that arranging matters for her to stay with me seems like the only option. However I know her well and she would probably not feel comfortable doing it for more than a week or two (I also live in a one bedroom flat with my partner), and she is likely to get easily confused as to why she is here. As she is also not used to being in the city.
What is helpful is that she seems pretty settled as to which area of Scotland she would want to live in, so I guess that narrows down the choices and could be easier to get an overview.
As far as I gathered the health care she has in Luxembourg would be able to cover her costs in Scotland, in which case she wouldnt have to rely on the state.
Thanks for the links...I'll check em out and see what I can find pennylessinindia.
lf1 cheers, i hadnt thought of age concern yet, alzheimer Scotland have been very helpful so far. I am probably best meeting them again.
I guess my main issue at the moment is the gap from getting her here and hosting her to getting her into appropriate accomodation, I am concerned it would be more than 2 weeks and possibly a matter of months as she wouldnt be classed as an emergency case.

salamanda

on that note; I have been told that one issue could be dealth with if she could see a doctor in luxembourg who is also a registered GP in the UK or along those lines. I am however uncertain if that exists and how to find out