Family Caregiver Investigation

  How it started.  When we brought Mom home, we did not know the depth and breadth of responsibility we were taking on.  First, Mom had been living in a supervised mental health group home for forty years. This meant that her meals and medications were provided. She never had to cook, all her food and beverage intake was managed by the group home staff. She never had to manage her own medications, they were delivered to the group home and administered, with a scheduled routine, by the group home staff. During daytime hours Mom was free to come and go, although she had to notify staff if she was going to miss a meal. After 10 pm the exterior doors were locked overnight. The home was staffed 24 hours a day. We planned to replicate that level of staffing and daily routine in our home. At this point, we were operating a mental health group home bed. Second, Mom had aged out of the mental health group home system. She had several health issues leading up to this moment. Her in...