How would it work if...

Errata

AA allows someone to 'buy in' the care that they need.

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

AA allows someone to 'buy in' the care that they need.

Or to pay for taxis, or to keep the heating on for longer, or to buy food that's easier to prepare - whatever. It may not be 'care' as such.

daska

Have to say I view buying in services from taxi companies, pre-prepared food etc as care. Especially if it is the case that if you couldn't get it from them you'd have to pay a carer to do it or go without. But then I've just bought a robot vacuum cleaner because financially it's cheaper than paying a carer/cleaner to do the work.

tanith

Margaret Clare regarding your husband going in the pool... at our pool they have a hoist available to enable people like your husband to be lowered into the water.. I think they have to be informed in advance but the staff are trained to use it.. might be worth asking if they have one where you go..

margaretclare

tanith wrote: »

Margaret Clare regarding your husband going in the pool... at our pool they have a hoist available to enable people like your husband to be lowered into the water.. I think they have to be informed in advance but the staff are trained to use it.. might be worth asking if they have one where you go..

Not at the little pool I go to because it's only 1.1m deep all over, no deep end/shallow end. It's very much 'private enterprise', was an old warehouse on a farm site but is very popular. I like it just because there's no deep end/shallow end and it's not so scary.

We've tried most things. We did go to another pool where there was a teaching pool that was shallower, with steps that you could walk down. I thought that that would be a good idea for both of us but (a) it was too crowded, kids jumping all over the place and (b) somehow the water was turbulent and even DH who used to be a strong swimmer found it scary. In addition, swimming as he used to swim is practically a no-no. He would instinctively kick out and that could damage the knee. He is really scared of doing anything to that knee because it is only the merest chance that he still has 2 legs to stand on at all and anything going wrong with the 4th replacement in 5 years, there is no option but an above-knee amputation. He does all he can to avoid that possibility.

In any case, it's mainly for me. I don't think he is too worried about swimming. I'm the one who is determined to learn, that's why I'm having one-to-one lessons with a very competent teacher at the little pool. DH says he would never have had the patience to do what Lee does for me, but then, he isn't a qualified swimming teacher and I don't think he understands the feeling of panic that I'm having to conquer bit by bit. He himself was tossed into the pool at a lido years ago and he learned to swim that way. I could NOT have done that!!

margaretclare

zaksmum wrote: »

I don't know if the criteria for AA has changed in the last few years, but when my elderly auntie applied for it she was really bewildered at one aspect of it.

She lived alone and had nobody to care for her. The social worker said that was ok, she didn't need anyone to actually care for her, all that mattered was that she had the need for someone to do it. She could need it but not actually get it.

She was very sceptical but applied on the advice of the social worker, and was awarded the AA.

Yes, I understand this.

If you think about it, every darned thing does cost more. A lady who used to live opposite us used to take a taxi into town every market day to do whatever she had to do, get her hair done etc, and taxi back. She could have walked to the end of the road, got a bus and used her free bus pass. But she couldn't walk that far!

We have been thinking about this of late because every bloomin' thing is costing more than it did a few months back and we haven't even got the council tax demand yet.

daska

margaretclare wrote: »

Yes, I understand this.

If you think about it, every darned thing does cost more. A lady who used to live opposite us used to take a taxi into town every market day to do whatever she had to do, get her hair done etc, and taxi back. She could have walked to the end of the road, got a bus and used her free bus pass. But she couldn't walk that far!

We have been thinking about this of late because every bloomin' thing is costing more than it did a few months back and we haven't even got the council tax demand yet.

This is the bit that the less intelligent/generous members of society fail to appreciate: It simply isn't possible to pin down exactly where the additional costs are incurred in such a way as to provide services instead.

margaretclare

daska wrote: »

This is the bit that the less intelligent/generous members of society fail to appreciate: It simply isn't possible to pin down exactly where the additional costs are incurred in such a way as to provide services instead.

A few months ago we tried going by bus to the local hospital. DH had an appointment with his consultant to get the result of his prostate biopsy and he wanted me to go with him. Anything over approx 30 yards - not even to the end of the road - and he uses his crutch. We stood to wait for the bus for ages, and ages...The bus does stop at the hospital and it passes the end of our road, but standing in the cold waiting for it was painful for DH and tiring for both of us.

This is where we've had comments from what you call 'less intelligent/less generous members of society'. They simply cannot see why we still have a car and why we'll hang on to a car unless/until either of us becomes unsafe to drive. 'You have a free bus pass, you should have sent in your licence' is one thing that has been said to us.

I have fought against stereotypes all my life, of one kind or another, and now I find we are being stereotyped as to how we should live our lives. 'If you go out, you only need to go to the doctor's or go to bingo' is one of the things I've heard said.

daska

margaretclare wrote: »

A few months ago we tried going by bus to the local hospital. DH had an appointment with his consultant to get the result of his prostate biopsy and he wanted me to go with him. Anything over approx 30 yards - not even to the end of the road - and he uses his crutch. We stood to wait for the bus for ages, and ages...The bus does stop at the hospital and it passes the end of our road, but standing in the cold waiting for it was painful for DH and tiring for both of us.

This is where we've had comments from what you call 'less intelligent/less generous members of society'. They simply cannot see why we still have a car and why we'll hang on to a car unless/until either of us becomes unsafe to drive. 'You have a free bus pass, you should have sent in your licence' is one thing that has been said to us.

I have fought against stereotypes all my life, of one kind or another, and now I find we are being stereotyped as to how we should live our lives. 'If you go out, you only need to go to the doctor's or go to bingo' is one of the things I've heard said.

I would have offered to swap my driving licence for their ruddy good health! Those kind of comments are based on real ignorance and deserve nothing but contempt - they're probably bad drivers into the bargain.

Another good retort is "even life imprisonment doesn't mean life". Or maybe we should push to have accommodation and 3 good meals a day provided free of charge as well as on-site medical care, library etc LOL, Bingo anyone?

zaksmum

Errata wrote: »

AA allows someone to 'buy in' the care that they need.

But what my auntie couldn't understand was that although she was given the AA to "buy in" the care, she never did, and nobody checked.

She just managed as she always had, being careful what she spent and just struggling through the days coping with pain and poor mobility.

We tried to persuade her to use taxis but she was horrified - "terrible waste of money!" she said. She was always convinced someone would come along and claim all the AA back again so basically saved it all, just in case.