Genie said:
If paid help is always brought in, it would be just another retirement community.
If the person in need is able to choose caretakers, it keeps the patient in control.
This is a huge difference from the normal assisted living models with built-in staffing.
Were you a neighbor offering to help me for free, I would decline your help with hands-on care.
The setup becomes one of servitude in reverse.
You will not stand for a paid aide to show up three hours late, but a volunteer...or an aide that built-in to the facility, there is little choice in the matter.
Same thing in personal habits. If ones perfume or post-smoking aroma bothers the patient, most would feel funny about bringing it up if they are being cared for for free.
The role of a good nurse living in house is...having someone to check out that pressure sore...Genie, do
you think it is healing well?
What do you think of the nurse telling me XXXXXXX symptom is just natural aging?
Or the inevitable idiot caregiver, who is taking advantage of someone less able to see it or too scared to speak up.
What about those emergencies when the aide just did not show up?
This is where your presence and efforts would be priceless.
Kind of like an in-house watchdog/advocate, you know?
In a regular assisted living situation, even a retired nurse is not taken seriously.
In the spot I envision, someone like you would carry a big stick and be taken
very seriously. (The home care companies would quickly learn this as well, giving "herd immunity" to many common problems experienced in home care scenarios.)
Think about it.
A nurse can give 10 baths and wrap a few wounds every week, helping out a few people.
If the same nurse lets the paid help deal with that, they can do a lot more good making sure all the people are getting their needs met in a good way.
Even the paid nurses that were mediocre, would quickly learn not to cut corners with those in your field of view.
In my mind, that is the magic core of this idea.
