1) Finding the right residential option

• • Mary still had a number of friends in her locality who would continue to visit her in her care home so we kept the search local. We contacted a number of homes and discussed Mary’s interests, medical requirements and the current availability in the home.
  • Based on these criteria, we ultimately brought Mary to visit three homes. Mary liked them all but she made the decision based on the connection she felt she made with staff in one.
  • We organised for the home to do an assessment and make sure her wishes and requirements could be met.

2) Preparing for and making the move

• • We took measurements of the room she would have and in discussion with Mary, selected the pieces of furniture and paintings that would be brought with her.
  • She had a large collection of clothes so some time was spent selecting which were the most suitable clothes to bring with her, along with her favourites. Labels were attached to all the clothes.
  • We reviewed Mary’s finances and agreed that she should be a private resident of the nursing home, rather than financing it under the Fair Deal scheme. We put some time into considering the extras that Mary was likely to avail of to ensure that Mary and her family had a very clear picture of what the total cost would be. We set up the standing orders for payments and ensured that Marys family could independently review the monthly outgoings. We put in place a procedure with the nursing home that allowed Mary to access her own funds.
  • We reviewed the nursing home agreement and circulated it to Mary, and her family, highlighting the key points so that everyone had a very clear understanding. All the paperwork was taken care of, prior to the move.
  • On the week of the move Mary’s daughter came home from the UK. We packed up Mary’s belongings that were to be brought to the nursing home and arranged for a man with a van to transport the furniture and pictures . By the time Mary arrived up to her room at the nursing home it was like a “ home from home “ with everything unpacked and her familiar items in-situ.

3) Follow up after the move

• • We kept in contact with Mary for the first few weeks, until she was completely settled in, ensuring that she had everything she needed.
  • The family had decided for the time being not to sell the home, so that they would have somewhere to stay when they came to visit . We notified the insurance company and the Guards that there would be long periods of vacancy in the house. We secured the home .
  • We closed off all unnecessary utilities and arranged for the essential utilities to be readdressed to the nursing home. We arranged for all Mary’s correspondence to be readdressed to the nursing home . We put in place An Post redirection service.