This was an unexpected bonus.

As I was wrapping up my conversation with the doctor after Jim’s Dementia Diagnosis, he said that he would refer us to our area health department. They would have someone come out to evaluate Jim’s physical condition. They would also inspect our home to see if we had any trouble spots that could cause him injury.

They were fast. I had a visit scheduled with them within a week of Jim’s diagnosis.

We’d already done things like changed out his TV tray to a solid wooden one because he uses it to balance as he stands up from the couch and removed the area rug that he’d stumbled on a few times. Over the past two years I’ve also added a handrail and shower chair in the bathroom and installed motion detector night lights between the bed and bathroom.

The two therapists that came in were fantastic. They inspected the house for danger points and didn’t find anything that wasn’t already on my list to fix  – see all of that reading and preparing ahead comes in handy. They were interested in how I’d used Alexa to automate lights and alert me to movement by the front door. They’d never seen it used that way before so ‘Yay Me’.

They ran Jim through various exercises such as walking up and down the stairs, laying down and getting up from bed, sitting and standing from the toilet and getting in and out of the shower to test his balance and stability.

During their wrap up, they also had a lot of information for me about next steps and support groups I can join to help me keep my own mental health intact.

I really appreciated them coming to our house. Yes, I’m confident in my abilities to keep Jim safe but it’s validating to have a professional opinion telling me I’ve done a good job.