What worried the family
Monica lives on her own in Bruton with her dog. She loves to talk, about her childhood and about her children, and she has always liked getting out and keeping active.
Her daughter lives more than an hour away. As her mum’s memory began to slip, the worry grew. Her mum still had a routine, but she would forget what she had already done that day: whether she had eaten, whether she had been out. Her daughter came down as often as she could, but the travelling was a lot, and being on her own all the time no longer felt safe.
What the family wanted was simple: someone coming in every day, and a routine that held together between their visits.
What Aurora set up
Monica was happy to have someone call in each day. She enjoys the company, and it helped that she understood her memory was not what it was.
Kirsty and Kayleigh put together a plan of one-hour visits five days a week, with two longer, two-hour visits each week. Carers help around the house with the laundry, the cleaning, the hoovering and the bedding. They plan the week’s meals with her, sort the shopping list and take her to the shops, and they drive her to appointments when she needs them.
She sees a small group of four or five carers, and the rota keeps the same faces with her as much as possible.
A typical visit
The carer knocks and waits for Monica to come to the door. Then it is whatever the day needs: clearing up in the kitchen, making lunch, changing the bed or running the hoover round.
If there is time, they take the dog for a walk together, somewhere pretty or just into town. Other days it might be swimming, the food shop, or an ice cream at a café in the summer. She used to love driving, and she is always thankful to be taken out in the car.
Keeping the family close
Her daughter can see the visit notes and the rota in the CareLineLive app, so she knows who is going in and how the day went. She also talks to Kirsty and Kayleigh regularly, and anything that comes up is dealt with straight away.
