Convalescent Care

Setting up your home and family for convalescent care.

In the ‘modern’ world most people live in single or nuclear family homes / apartments. There is mom and dad and 2.3 children. Or it could be a single parent household. Grandma and grandpa live somewhere else, and if you have any siblings they live in yet another someplace else. This may work out well for everyone in ‘normal’ times and situations.

In today’s world if someone gets sick or hurt and they need help or need help with the kids then you have to have someone travel across town or across state[s] to be able to help out. At best this disrupts their lives a bit or a LOT and makes it less likely that you will assistance at times. Some things to consider for the person being helped is that things in the home and your routine have to be altered to accommodate the the helper. On the other hand the helper will end up either bringing TOO much of their stuff OR won’t bring things that THEY need to be away from their home. Depending on their situation it will cause a hardship in their household with pets/plants and security.

Back in the old days most people lived in multi-generational situations and siblings were just down the street from the main family which made for a highly supportive environment. OH well, things are what they are for all of us.

Why would you have to provide convalescent care? It could be simple situations like the kids [or you] have the flu. A family member or friend could need help after a surgery or broken leg. Or your parents could just be old / infirm and can not live on their own any longer. [this is where an in-law apartment comes in nice. More on this later.]

In an ideal situation and new construction your place would be designed much as a modern bed and breakfast [B&B] or an actual better setup would be as a boarding house. What is the difference between the 2? A B&B is short term and the boarding house is much longer term situation.

With this in mind each room or suite of rooms would have their own bathrooms that would include tubs and or showers and there would be a central kitchen. Some may be set up as inefficiencies with a kitchenette. On a much larger scale would be a hotel / event center that has a restaurant, pool with a hot tube and ALL the trimmings. Use your imagination for the set up.

For most B&Bs and many of us normal folks housing would have to be adapted and retrofitted.

Regardless of where and what you start with there are certain considerations to account for.

Privacy – it does not matter how much you love someone nor how well you get along most of us will want someplace to retreat to at least to sleep. A private room is especially important if they are sick and contagious. So, if the room exists the sick person should have a private room.

The sick or convalescent room should NOT be carpeted. Carpets are hard in the best of times to keep clean. Expect in a sick room to have messes, vomiting, diarrhea and urine end up on the floor. There will be other spills to contend with too. Carpets and drapes [as in room dividers or entrance curtains] are some of the biggest harbors of germs in a healthcare setting.

See you in part 2. We would like to hear YOUR thoughts on this and other topics.