When Áine’s father received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s six years ago, it was a devastating blow for all the family. He was only in his fifties.
“It’s only when early onset dementia happens to your own family that you find out how many other families are in the same situation,” says Áine, a mother of two young children with a full time job.
“Dad retired at 54 and by the following year we started to notice different things, like that he was getting up at night and walking around, or just being a little confused,” she explains.
“It’s not like you wake up one morning and the person is forgetting everything. It was more a gradual sense of not understanding how things worked. For example, when the doorbell would ring, he might look at the TV, or when he was using the remote control he might point it at the window.”
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Such behaviours were “eye openers” for the family, and they quickly sought help. “Because Dad was so young we were worried about things like brain tumours. We were lucky to get the diagnosis early because it meant he went on his medications early and that slowed the progress of the dementia,” says Áine.
For the first four years after his diagnosis, Áine’s father was able to go about his everyday life as before, which was wonderful.
But life threw another curve ball at the family when, in January of 2022, her mother became very ill, ultimately spending three months in hospital, including an extended period in ICU. It was an incredibly scary experience for the family, not least because it coincided with a period of decline in her father.
“By that stage Dad couldn’t be on his own and we were thrown into crisis mode trying to figure out how are we going to get through the next few months,” says Áine.
While her mother ultimately recovered fully, “we just couldn’t have her come home from hospital and become Dad’s carer,” she explains.
It was through the public health services that she first heard of ALHomecare, which stands for Affordable Live-in Homecare.
“To have put him in a nursing home at that stage would have exacerbated his condition because he was still too well. He was doing all his own personal care, we just needed someone with him to prompt him to do those things. And he needed companionship,” she recalls.
They looked at the option of a full-time nurse but estimated it would cost between €4,000 and €5,000 a month. A nursing home would have cost even more, at around €1,000 a week. “The Fair Deal scheme wouldn’t work for us either because it is a long-term solution and we only needed a short-term fix, and we needed it straight away,” she adds.
“With ALHomecare you become the employer. It came in at around €2,500 a month, and you can claim tax back on that.”
ALHomecare offers a three-week trial period at the start of all placements to make sure that the family, the client and the carer are all happy with the arrangement.
After the trial period ALHomecare continues to stay in contact with all throughout the placement to make sure that it continues to be a success.
The family’s carer, Sara, was from Portugal. “She was an angel. She slotted into our family unit like she was always there and just took away all our problems. She was due to come for six months but in fact she stayed for eight,” says Áine.
“Dad knew Mam was in hospital. We just explained to him that we didn’t want him to be on his own and he was happy with that. A lot of what was required was just prompting him, making sure he had clean clothes and was taking his medications. Sara also prepared nutritious meals and did general day to day stuff like washing,” she says.
The pair got on very well. “They would take the dog for walks and watch documentaries and do puzzles together, and Sara would put on music for my father, who plays music,” says Áine.
“She was really good with him. Everything was very calm and collected. My father suffers anxiety brought on by the diagnosis and if he was feeling overwhelmed, Sara would do breathing exercises with him, or suggest they go outside to change the environment.”
Sara stayed on when Áine’s mother came home from hospital. “Dad’s care was always Sara’s main role because Mam didn’t need any care, she just couldn’t care for anyone else at that stage,” she explains. “But just having Sara there with Dad helped Mam to recover.”
Thankfully the point came, last October, when Áine’s mother was well enough to care for her husband on her own and Sara’s time with the family came to an end. “We were at a stage where Mam was able to cope. We had HSE hours and help from our extended friends and family as well and just didn’t need live in care anymore,” says Áine.
ALHomecare had helped the family through the crisis. “When all this happened there were lots of options out there for us as a family but no other solution,” she says.
None of the alternative options would have worked for her father.
“He was already worried about Mam. To have taken him out of his own environment would have been disastrous for him. This way he was safe at home,” she explains.
“It was the only solution for us and I would highly recommend it to others. In fact, I have already recommended ALHomecare to several families going through similar situations. The help we got from Sara, together with that of our extended family and friends, I’ve never seen compassion like it.”
ALHomecare offers a consistent, dependable, person-centred live-in care service. It normally works out less expensive than paying privately for a nursing home or private visiting care service. For more information, call Tom Quinlan on 087 744 0729 or visit www.alhomecare.ie
