My mom is 94. She uses a walker. She is in good physical health, but short term memory is lacking. We transitioned her from her apt with live-in aide to an AL 4 months ago because we thought it would be better for her and easier for myself/my sister to manage. It has been worse. AL does not perform contracted services satisfactorily (despite repeated meetings with mgmt), but bigger issue is that my Mom has fallen 3 or 4 times since moving in. She did not seem to fall with the aide (unless aide did not tell us). Every time she falls they take her to the ER. My sister lives near her, I do not. This is putting a real strain on her. I think we need to make a change, but not sure what to do. SNF? Move to a different facility? What questions to ask?
Both my parents were falling on a regular basis at their home. Many falls I never knew about until I found my Dad's diaries. Oh dear.
My Mom moved into long-term-care due to a serious fall, and she continued to fall even there. She forgot she couldn't walk, but was determined to do so. Nurses eventually founds ways to limit the falls.
My Dad had around the clock caregivers at his house, which limited almost all the falls during that time frame, but at $30k per month, it was eating its way through Dad's wallet. Dad then decided to move to Independent Living, but as Dad aged his falls were happening more. Plus he would forget to use his walker. Then a move to Assisted Living/Memory Care, falls were less as he spent most of his day in his recliner watching TV, which he was content to do.
I'm wondering if she had begun to deteriorate, perhaps subtly, while she was still living at home and that was why you thought she needed more structured care? But in that case, her more frequent falling now could be explained by physical decline.
The whole falls issue is *monumentally* stressful and frustrating and you and your sister have my whole-hearted sympathy. If I were either of you, I think I would ask for a detailed medical assessment of your mother's current condition and prognosis. Did any of the ER visits result in a CT scan of her head, for example?