Daytime Elder Care Success

Mabel* and her husband Fred* were both in their 70s when they first visited the YW. Alzheimer’s had left her a very dependant individual, much like an infant joined to its mother’s hip.  She needed constant one-on-one attention and he was her sole caretaker. Fred was very apprehensive about letting anyone else care for his wife other than himself, but it was becoming more than he could handle.  

He originally scheduled her to attend one half day a week in order to have a little time to run errands and household duties. It soon became obvious how valuable that time was and he was able to do things like mow the lawn and make it to his own doctor’s appointments. Even with his prior reluctance to share his care-giving role, within one week of Mabel attending our Elder Care program, Fred began to increase the number of days she attended.  She started at one half day, then to a full day, to two days---and ultimately began attending all week.

It was obvious that Fred reaped the benefits of having respite from 24-hour care-giving immediately. Mabel was able to be cared for here at the YW for over two years before her level of care increased past what we are able to provide. We feel like her time spent at the YW, interacting with her peers and the children in our Childcare Center allowed her to function in a non-medical care setting much longer than if she had not attended.

Even more, the positive impact the respite from sole care-giving provided Fred is immeasurable.

*name has been changed