Care Home in Thailand

MerylStreep It is not racist because in most care contexts, including hospitals there will be Philipina and staff from other countries, as well as staff from the same countries who were born and brought up here. But it is having all the staff from another culture that is the problem.

For example, supposing we decided send elderly and mentally challenged people to an Eastern European country, or even France or The Netherlands. The same problems would arrive. For all staff English would be a second language, some may well not speak it well, cultural references would be different, and there would be catering problems, providing familiar meals cooked in a familiar way, familiar biscuits with coffee and tea.

It is a daft idea.

Good posts Meryl and M0nica.
Despite the fantastic healthcare in France where we lived (and worked, so were in the system), even the thought of being hospitalised at the time concerned us for the reasons you mention. When you are at your most vulnerable, whether old or young, you don't need any added difficulties.

It's a sad reflection on our society that it's so difficult and expensive to find decent care/nursing homes, particularly for those with multiple needs or dementia.

So many threads where a spouse or parent is in an average even mediocre home that will eventually drain all financial resources.

As for going to Thailand - it's not in my future plans but honestly I can think of worse!

If the owners are British and experienced providers they would know what residents needs are and would cater for all dietary tastes. Netflix, BBC World, etc are available world wide. Presumably the fees include health insurance in case hospital care is needed.

Come to think of it ...

Most people on here moan about the British Summer, have you ever lived in a tropical country? my word you would not like it

Are there sufficient staff being paid properly in British care homes. Isn’t this the problem, without this the care will not be of excellent quality and I for one shudder at the prospect.

Riverwalk

It's a sad reflection on our society that it's so difficult and expensive to find decent care/nursing homes, particularly for those with multiple needs or dementia.

My sentiments exactly.

As long as we continue to vote in governments which believe in the free-market economy, nothing will change. 'Care' is simply another commodity. The financial interests of private companies conflicts with the need to provide safe and continuous services to highly vulnerable people. There is a limit to the services that the 'market' can safely provide.

BlueBelle, I agree, the humidity is horrible - worse than the heat. I suppose it doesn't really matter if people are so frail that they never go outside. If the building's air conditioned, it could be anywhere, makes no difference.

Elderly people are often hard of hearing, so have trouble understanding accents. Folk on here seem to have rose-tinted glasses on, though, regarding UK care homes.

The three 'luxury' ones my mother was in (in her final year) had very few staff with good spoken English - not that they ever had much time to talk.

The food was often poor (or inedible), the care limited - and almost non-existent at night. The entertainment was inappropriate or boring (Vera Lynn, old films and flower arranging anyone?) so there was little to look forward to or live for. Mum said 'It's all for show, I'm kept in a Wardian case, on display for visitors!' - not that we enjoyed our visits.

£1250 per week for that miserable existence!

dogsmother, in the BUPA home (the worst, but prettiest of the three) care staff were on minimum wage, there was high staff turnover, many very young and temporary.

Any problem - they'd give her a glass of wine. The two staff who did transfers (wheelchair to chair or bed) would chat to each other, often in their own language.

To my mind this plan smacks of old furnitutre being bunged away in the attic and forgotten about, out of sight, out of mind.

Spot on, M0nica - shipped away, out of sight, out of mind like all that carefully recycled plastic we send off to Third World countries, turning it into their problem!

It's been bad enough during Covid that family haven't been able to go to visit their loved ones in care and nursing homes or just seeing them distressed through the window, reaching out for a hand to be held which was not allowed.

This book is worth a read:
The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker
by Joanna Nell

BlueBelle

Most people on here moan about the British Summer, have you ever lived in a tropical country? my word you would not like it

Indeed.

Go out from the air conditioning and it's like walking into a sauna.

Depends which part of Thailand too. Some of it is gorgeous ,some of it is poverty stricken and awful.
I have come across people who cruise all year round. It is actually quite cheap and if you cruise a lot they do your laundry free and you get a lot of perks. The more you cruise, the cheaper it becomes. Now we have Covid it is a risk, though.

I read about the care home in Thailand and I thought lovely-----for a week or two

My son worked for a few years on cruise ships. It was an American cruise ship and was often full of elderly people who were almost on permanent cruises. Most were not frail or needed extra care but were enjoying retirement, probably quite wealthy. Very popular were the repositioning cruises, from America to Europe, America to Australia or Australia to Far East. Long cruises no stops but very cheap.

I wouldn’t send anyone . I would go and have a look via taking a holiday. May be great if you are able bodied and see this as an alternative but my family craved our visits when they eventually went into care homes . Our weekly visits armed with photo albums , chocolates and flowers made them feel needed . I would feel abandoned if I was dumped thousands of miles away with no visitors and no contacts . I can see the other side to this though.

Maybe I'll book this in advance - at least there's a frequent change of scenery:

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-22/for-61-000-spend-most-of-the-year-on-a-cruise-around-the-world

I can vouch that the medical treatment in Thailand and Chang Mia is excellent. Mr Barney injured his knee and needed an operation, he saw.the Dr on Tuesday evening . had an MRI scan and an operation on Saturday followed by physio. Why do we think we are the only country to have decent medical facilities. As for a Care Home mr B and I have both said that is where we will go. There are enough ex pats living in Chiangmai Mia to be able to mix with your own kind if that’s what you wants

Barmeyoldbat

I don't think we assume that but the medical insurance for older people with underlying health conditions will be huge.

Private healthcare overseas can be absolutely wonderful but the cost is high. The probability of anyone needing care is high and will be reflected in the cost.

The recent r4 programme about this mentioned earlier was about this increasingly popular way of getting quality but much less expensive care was interesting but personally I would not want to be so far away.
Family visits would be few and far between. The owner was British the staff very kind but there would be little oversight and reassurance that the resident wasn’t happy or there were problems.

DH has had to pay £500 for a year's travel insurance, no more than 90 days out of the country, incuding a one week cruise. He has had a heart bypass surgery and a damaged lung following an infection.

Many old and frail people have multiple medical problems requiring constant medical attention, so health insurance could be £3,000 a year or more. Added on to care costs. I think this is someone young's big bright idea, they should be taken outside to make a reality check.

These homes have been up and running for some time - I heard a radio programme a couple of years ago.

There's even a list on the Foreign Office section of the UK government website

Thailand

Hetty58
How true with not being able to understand.
I went to look at a BUPA home when looking for my Mother in law.
The reception area was magnificent. We were invited to sit and have tea and biscuits with the best China ?
Then I asked the manager to see my mother in laws room and the public area. We walked into hell, I’m not exaggerating. There were at least 2 men in a distressed state in nappies.
The lounge could have been a canteen in a bus station.
I reported them.

Many older people live inThailand and there is an ex pats insurance scheme. Treatment is chEap, Mr B operation cost $nearly 2000 dollars and that included a weeks stay in an apartment in the hospital, all meals and physio. Afterwards physo continued at $12.50. Even a stay in ICU is not over expensive.. if you look at what you save on care costs, then you can afford either the treatment or insurance. Also to buy medication is really cheap. Thailand and Malaysia are encouraging expats and have favourable terms.

Sorry once again done this without glasses on, on my phone and while moving

Barmyoldbat yes, but...... You are talking about older people who are stil reasonably fit and able to look after themselves and their affairs.

What is being talked about is Local Authorities sending people to Thailand to reduce their care costs. These people will have multiple disabilities, the majority of them mental problems. Most with dementia - and that is a very different thing. Most will be entirely financed by Local authorities and most will be entirely at the mercy of the care the care home chooses to give.

Now we all know just how dreadful the care has been in some homes in the UK - and that is when families have been visiting regularly and inspections can be arranged at very short notice - and this is a continuing problem.

How on earth will LA.s manage to monitor what is happening 6,000 miles away. If they keep a monitoring team there, that will multiply costs. These residents will not be the kind who can make complaints of there own. There will be no family visits, how much more unprotected will be those without family. And how soon will it be before the LA is trying to cut costs, limiting how much they will pay for home care, medical care etc etc?

As most will be LA funded and presumable from families that are more likely to also have lower incomes, even if they are average or above average, how often are they going to be able to afford to fly to Thailand to visit their relative.

Remember one of the most important things with caring for those with dementia is keeping them, as far as possible in familar surroundings and talking about familiar things, with people who share the same experience. How on earth can that be replicated in a country a long way away, with little familiarity with the lives of the residents?

Thank you all for your thoughts.

"Care Resort Chaing Mai is run by Peter Brown, a businessman from Manchester who decided to adapt his hotel resort to offer care for the elderly after removing his elderly mother from her UK care home. There he said, he found that staff were checking in on her via a tannoy system and he found several days meals still covered in cling film. I knew I could do better, he says, I wanted to create something that wouldnt look, feel or smell like a care home. I dont have patients, I have guests. My focus is to keep people safe and happy. His resort is one of several that have sprung up in the mountainous north of Thailand, most catering for elderly Europeans and Americans, sometimes along with their healthy partners offering high quality care with high staff-to-guest ratios".