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Does anyone know of somewhere in Central Portugal that does respite care.
We may need it for my sister-in-law who is in a wheelchair. We have to go back to the UK at the end of March and although most days she is self reliant there are days when she needs to be reminded to take her medication, eat and helped out of bed.
Hi
Thanks for your reply. The respite was needed in March but we had problems!
We visited the place on the Caramulo, excellent place, clean, well organised etc but the main problem was the language. A couple of the cleaners and the Manager spoke a little english but no-one else. The main problem was this is geared towards Alzheimers and terminal care. The room Jenny would have been in just had a bed and nothing else. We could have taken a radio in but it would have to be turned off at night which is when Jenny needs it most as background noise. There was a toilet opposite her room but it was not geared up for someone in a wheelchair (jenny would have been allowed to take her electric wheelchair). There was a disabled bathroom on the floor below but it would have meant her going along a long corridor (past an wide, open marble staircase) and going down in a lift to access it. Also she would not have been allowed outside the building - only places she could be were her room, a small balcony, the dining room and the common room. The costs were quite high 800 euros even though it was only 10 days and not a full month. She wouldn't be able to take her medication in with her or her Tena pants etc we would have to obtain them from the facility at extra cost. Don't get me wrong the people were lovely but it just wasn't suitable for her. We came away from there and I immediately burst into tears and halfway down the mountain my husband had to pull over as he was so upset. So we came to the decision we couldn't put her in there - it would have been like putting her in prison!
We managed to change our ferry and accommodation bookings and took her with us to the UK. It wasn't good for her and she has said she doesn't want to make the trip back to the UK again.
We have been back once since and are going back again in March but we have a friend just down the road who spends half her time here and half in the UK - she is a registered private carer. She stayed with Jenny for 13 days when we went back in Aug and will stay in March when we go back for 1 week. The advantage is that Jenny knows her well as she is our friend so she is okay with her staying here and our dog adores Karen so it's not a problem leaving her here as well. The problem is we have to tie our visits back for when Karen is available, so will definitely keep you in mind for the future.
Thanks again.
Hi
So pleased you have found someone both you and Jenny are happy with.
Regards, Sue
Community Nursing Services Portugal
