Can I demand the nursing home to give my Mom a supplement?

Although it can vary a bit from state to state, to the best of my knowledge, this is pretty much how it works:

If someone is in residential care or assisted living, which is a form of residential care, it is considered very much like your own home: your choices in almost all circumstances.

If, however, it's necessary that the patient be in a nursing home or a long term care facility which is structured like a nursing home, ie: with the doctor in charge and overseeing the patient (read that as: RESPONSIBLE for the patient), you will only be able to give what a doctor prescribes, and it will generally need to be available through their pharmacy on blister pack cards, which is the way most nursing homes are currently choosing to dispense their medications. The cards come already pre packaged each patient's medical requirements, the day count during the month is right on there, the nursing staff doesn't have to handle and count bottles and bottles of medication, it is supposed to be safer because it eliminates which of the chance of human error.

According to recent research. So many people are vitamin D deficient that you are finding doctors who will prescribe it. consequently, pharmacies make it available as a drug, not a vitamin. Rather then being a vitamin D3 from a source you might prefer, it's going to be a USP form of chemical vitamin D from the absolute least expensive source, while dispensing it at the highest possible cost, of course.

I am a nutritionist. At home, I had my dad on a slew of "industrial strength supplements" from 1985 till 1994. He was a big man, and my mom was small. When his behavior became uncontrollably violent, we could no longer keep him at home. The only type of place available to us was a nursing home, yes, with a doctor. So no more supplements.

Within a few days of admission, they did a cursory examination as required by law. They didn't get to a serious evaluation for 10 days. By that time, he was off his supplements and the doctor there had "adjusted" his medications. His mental and emotional condition deteriorated very rapidly. The comment they made to my mother and me was that they were surprised from his behavior that he was in as good a physical shape as he was. Well, of course IMO, that's what the supplement did, although you'll never convince any medical personnel that don't believe in supplements that that was the case.

He was in the final stages of Alzheimer's; his mind was already was already gone, his mental faculties did not work, we had kept his physical body healthy. Withdrawing the supplements took care of that. My dad was a strong, booming 6 foot 3 inches. He went in to the nursing home at 219 pounds. He crossed over 16 months later weighing 147. I don't know if you can even imagine a person of that height weighing so little.

It's a sad reality for all of us, but Alzheimer's and other dementias are death sentences diseases. There is absolutely nothing you can do you totally prevent the progression. It's admirable that you have given supplements. You have no doubt extended not only the length of time but the quality of life. But once you reach the nursing home stage, you are on the slippery slope.

Frankly, I was trying to help my mother, because she wasn't ready to let go. But the caretaking was killing her. Because my dad had become violent, we could have continued with him at home longer by giving him antipsychotics such as Haldol, but we would have been dealing with a pendulum swinging between violence and zombification.

If it had been up to me, alone, I would have withdrawn the supplements and allowed his physical self to deteriorate in line with his mental health and emotional self. When they are in a residential situation, you have control over this. When things have digressed to a nursing home situation, the control is removed from your choice he was very large degree, something you will have to adjust to.

To be sure, there are facilities that are licensed for memory care which are residential and not skilled nursing or long term care with doctors in attendance. We had one of those in our area, but it was private pay. We needed to place my dad nearly an hour away from home, and it was a nursing home.

I don't mean to be depressing or bleak but everyone responsible for taking care of dementia patients needs to be realistic about the progress of the disease. I will mention this, just for the irony of it all: after we placed my dad, my mom started serious, deep cleaning for the first time in 10 years. Behind couches, lamp tables and my mom's electric organ, as well as under the beds of all three bedrooms, we found little piles of supplements. Certainly not everything we had given him, by a long shot, but enough to realize that the very taking of them irritated him. Hahahaha...

My mom was in a NH for rehab a couple of years ago. They would only give her a multivitamin and vitamin D. I have several other vitamins I give her, some that her doctor recommended she be on but they did not give them to her. They messed up with her regular meds also because hers were not the norm, she takes Parkinsons meds five times a day. It was a constant battle, I did not pursue anything with them on the vitamins because she was there short term and I went to the facility daily. I hope you get satisfactory results and that they will work with you.

What other supplements are you wondering about. I would think that they may contain ingredients that cause reactions with the meds she takes. Vitamin D is standard and taken my many, so not an issue. When you get to some of the other ones, seems there is a new one on the market daily, someone would have to carefully evaluate whether a specific supplement is safe to take. They are not all safe, there are drug interactions with some supplements. Has her doctor recommended the supplement? Does he know she is taking it? Do you know what all is in it?

I agree with Angreaag, you have the right to see your mom gets vitamins. I f you need to, go to her Dr and get him involved. Some supplements like melatonin might interact with her other meds. I buy my mom vitamins and bring them to the home. They give them to her. And also she has a prescription for vit D, I pick it up at the pharmacy. Ask to talk to the med tech or head nurse where your mom is. You may need to go to her Dr, like I said.

ANDREAAG
.
I believe that you, being her son, and possibly having "POA" can give you mom anything in the way of food and supplements that are "non" medicinal!

I gave my wife the attached supplement for 3 years including 3 months at her nursing home. It is a very high calorie, nutritional drink that cannot be bought in the store; however, you can purchase it via the internet from many sources. I bought it through Amazon and it shipped for free. It comes in vanilla and chocolate and has a nice flavor and texture. It has 530 calories per 8oz...This is more than double the amount found in "over the counter" boost drinks. It kept my wife from losing weight and gave her many vitamins that she needed. Check out the ingredients on "google".

Talk to the dietitian about this and "not" to a nurse or doctor! It isn't a medicine and you have a perfect right to give it to her

Lots of luck, Sonny

BOOST® VHC-Flavor Vanilla Calories 530/ 237 mL Packaging 8 fl oz carton - Each 1
by Nestle Nutritional