Thursday, September 22, 2011
Mother wants daughter home
A 49 year old woman has been mentally retarded from birth—she has the mental age of a 3 year old—and is morbidly obese (370 pounds). The woman has been cared for by her mother all her life. She comes to the hospital after having fallen at home. She can’t walk by herself or get out of bed. Her care team recommends that she go to a nursing home. Her mother is herself in a wheelchair and has inoperable cancer. The mother insists on bringing the woman home and says that neighbors are always around to help get the woman out of bed. What should the care team do?
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When considering the facts that are presented, the 49 yr old patient is deemed incompetent due to her mental capacity of a 3 yr old, inability to perform ADLs, unable to care for herself, and basically renderred immobile duw to her obesity and current medical condition. The mother has inoperable cancer and may be approaching end-stage and she will need assistance and will not be able to attempt to take care of the woman any longer. We have come to the decision that it would be in both the woman and the mother's best interest to be placed in an assisted living facility because neither one of them have the capacity to take care of one another.
ReplyDeleteWe believe it would greatly benefit both of them because it would take the stress off the mother about taking complete care of the woman and worrying about falls and such, but would still allow the mother to participate in the woman's care if placed in a assisted living facility. Also, being placed with other residents would allow both of them to socialize and not be isolated. Another benefit would be that in a facility like this, they do not have to depend on "the neighbors" to come get the woman out of bed. The staff will assist the woman with getting out of bed, ADLs and dietary needs.