Sustaining Elder Care – February 2026

My dad has been in his new memory care place since mid-November, and we are still not quite settled. He had a visit from a podiatrist, and they sent information on getting into their portal to see the report to me rather than my sister that handles his medical care (i.e. is his Medical POA) …a continuing issue which I have now escalated to the director since it has happened with other providers. My dad has been seen by a Nurse Practitioner and had bloodwork, but my sister had to ask for the results repeatedly before getting them and the question of the physician or medical practice that is monitoring the Nurse Practitioner has not been answered.

On the plus side, the facility has started using a new app to report to families about the activities their person in memory care is participating in like music therapy, hands & nails spa, coffee bar social, and (most frequently) chair exercise. The app has the capability of including pictures but, so far, they haven’t been doing that; it could be that it would take an extra staff person to get pictures during the activity. Since I am not local – I like the daily reports through the app to understand the types of activities he does with other people.

One of my other sisters was able to attend a session held for families of people in memory care and sent us “what NOT to do --- what to do instead.” Since we are all trying to be respectful and accept our father the way he is now, we do reasonably well. Our challenge is to have a conversation with our dad. We’ve come to accept his pronouncements whether they reflect reality or not…encouraged that he is trying to communicate.

It is not easy to watch a person that has been around for my whole life decline. He is a very different person now than he was during my growing up. I’m glad that my sisters and I are staying engaged with his care. We are all learning from his experience…storing away ideas for the way we want to live our own lives. None of us wants to regret anything.