Goodness it’s Good Friday and we are not, for the first time in 10 years, having our Annual Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race Party.
We are SO blessed to live on stunning Moreton Bay just north of Brisbane, with the extra privilege of living right on the beach more-or-less at the spot where the yachts go around the buoy, head for Moreton Island and then turn north for the open sea and their final destination of Gladstone.
It’s a truly, truly stunning spectacle, and one we have been celebrating with friends over champagne and great food for a long time – sadly no Yacht Race today!
Instead, I am thinking about how to keep my 92-year old mum as safe as we can, amidst the COVID19 chaos.
But it’s not just about keeping her medically safe and trying our best to ensure she doesn’t get the virus, it’s also about making good calls with respect to maintaining her regular routine which in turn brings her stability.
My husband and I have had long conversations about this, and perhaps you are also battling with decisions in an effort to get the best result for a loved one.
My mother has several different groups of Carers going into her home, so if we were just looking at medical safety, then we would stop all of these.
But what we know is that routine equals her stability and feelings of wellbeing so it’s a case of looking at the situation holistically, and taking into consideration the implications of changing things to provide her with more “safety”, but in doing so, removing lifelines.
In the end, our decision is that the need for “safety” is outweighed by the need for maintaining the routine which addresses the bigger picture for her – and not just now, but into the future.
If we remove the routine, we know with certainty the result will be a decline in her overall wellness – and for my mum, that is a short journey into higher care.
The other challenge – and some of our clients are also experiencing this – is the enormous and detrimental effect of the constant barrage of information about the virus, about the distancing, about the deaths, about the numbers and all the other information that has been basically hi-jacked every channel.
There is no doubt about the need for this, but it is basically impossible for someone like my mum to control the intake of this deluge.
The result is a hugely heightened state of panic and worry for someone who already lives with heightened feelings of panic and worry.
What we are finding reinforces what we already know – the only way to maintain some sense of stability for her, is to do the best we can to maintain the routine.
Naturally we are all working with a changing environment, but wherever we can, we try to:
- do things at the same time
- do things in the same place
Stay Safe this Easter from the team at MemBo!
Who do you know that’s just not managing the day to day because of memory problems?
Whether it’s because of dementia, an acquired brain injury or a mental illness – the result is stress and worry for individuals and for families and carers.
We can help!
For more information visit our website www.membonoticeboard.com or contact us by email info@membonoticeboard.com or by phone 07 3880 4535
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