Care Home in Thailand

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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 ...

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.

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.

MOnica
Your comments on the Filipino care staff are spot on, and any other migrant staff.
As most of us know the tv is always on in the communal lounge. Some of the programs give a lot of laughs and pleasure to the residents. Given the time the care staff will join in with the laughs, but if your not British born you can’t possibly get it.
It’s the same with residents wanting to talk about local connections. Once again, migrant any migrant workers can’t relate.
I’ve posted on this very subject before and once again the R word was directed at me.

All the cruises I have seen are about £1,000 for a week, plus all the extras. Not cheaper than a care home, and while they may be suitable if your problem is physical frailty, I doubt you could stay on board if you had dementia - and most care home residents have mental impairments of some sort.

I remember reading about the couple living in the Travel Lodge. But again they were not mentally impaired and did not require social care of any kind.

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

What would happen if a LocalAuthority gave a contract to send all those requiring residential care to Thailand because it was cheaper than keeping them in a care home in the UK

I’m not really brave enough to go abroad for a care home. How would you get out if it wasn’t as good as the brochures/ marketing said it was?
I would be more inclined to sell up now and buy a flat or bungalow in a retirement village. The one local to us is in 7 acres of grounds, has a social club and you can pay for care as your needs change.

Don’t agree calistemon my friend goes on Saga cruises and tells me how the wheelchairs and walking frames are left outside the dining room and how the man in the next cabin to her used to knock on the wall and she used to go and help him dress each morning he gave her a present at the end of the trip she seemed to find it all quite normal
She also told me that there are occasionally deaths on board
She herself is not that healthy

You have to be fairly fit to go on a cruise.

It's all go!

Oh yes, a burial at sea, ashes or whatever.

I should write that in my List of Wishes.

Hetty - I heard the same thing years ago - 5* facilities on board ship: gym, tailored exercise, good food, lectures, entertainment, laundry, hair dressing, medical attention and if the worst happens - I think you can be buried at sea. A modest Care Home around here is £800 a week, so the cost probably balances out over the year, when some cruises are off peak.

I wonder why my friends ex husband who took himself off to Thailand many many years ago comes home for medical treatment ? I m not sure what the medical facilities are like there Could elderly ill people manage the heat ?

Hetty is right my friend goes on cruises and told me about elderly people who book up for three or four cruises a year to avoid care homes they say it’s cheaper and they are well looked after I ve heard about this for years

Years and years ago when I worked in a hotel we had an elderly lady ‘live’ there shed got a warm room and well fed, beds changed no housework etc

EDancer ok for them, perhaps, until they may find they're incapable of looking after themselves, then what, as you say?

Personally, can think of nothing more boring or dispiriting than living in a Travelodge hotel room for the rest of my days.
What do they do?

I read about a couple who'd taken up residence in a Travelodge room instead of a 'Home'. They said it was cheaper, with a restaurant, cleaning, laundry, heating, and everything on tap.
But I did wonder what they'd do when their money ran out (presumably they'd sold their home and were living on the proceeds) or if they fell really ill. T
hey wouldn't get council funding like they would if they were in a Home.

I can’t work out how a cruise is cheaper than a care home. If an elderly person becomes so frail that they require residential care then that same person on a cruise would need to have at least two carers accompany them, so thats 3 fares to find. They would also have difficulty in getting any travel or medical insurance so if they did need to use medical services on the ship they would have to pay for it. I have known nurses who have worked on cruise ships and it is usually critical care nursing they provide until the patient can be lifted off the ship when it is near land and taken to hospital.

wintersday, why not if you have the right state of mind and attitude. I wouldn't because of family and granchildren- but if not, why not.

Very different for you Marmite if family there. But what happens if one day they decide to up sticks and return to UK, or go to another location?

Grannybags

No. I wouldn't want to die in a different country

I understand what you are saying Grannybags. I think M0nica is right that there are too many differences to make you feel totally at peace with life in the final years.
There is security in familiarity, and that familiarity for me would be in my own country.