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My late husbands' mother was in a nursing home - money that her sister had sent her disappeared as well as candy, new clothing, a quilt on her bed that she had hand-stitched and her thin wedding band that she would take off - Made (and still makes me) sick that people would do such to elderly people - scavengers.
Did you read earlier posts? Several experienced posters kept trying to suggest that many items don't fall prey to deliberate scavenging...they get carried away by folks who are cognitively impaired. It isn't malicious.
My dad was in assisted living for the last year of his life. When he passed away, we cleaned out his rooms (bedroom & sitting room), and there was nothing missing that we could think of, and that includes jewelry and many small antiques and artwork. If we thought it would be there, it was there. But he also had a key to his room and was very particular about keeping the door locked. Is this uncommon for assisted living? My dad may have been old and nearly blind, but he was sharp and would not willingly have taken valuables to a shared living facility where the door could not be locked.
Of course, it's still possible that an employee could have gone into his room to pilfer when he was in the dining room or out with a friend, but really not possible that a resident could have done so. On the other hand, my understanding is that any resident or staff member (or visitor) could theoretically wander into memory care and nursing home rooms. I definitely wouldn't take any valuables or sentimental items there.
Whether doors were locked in my mom's facility was up to the resident. My mom always locked hers, but obviously the woman across the hall did not. I would assume may with dementia don't lock doors.
Whether doors were locked in my mom's facility was up to the resident. My mom always locked hers, but obviously the woman across the hall did not. I would assume may with dementia don't lock doors.
Right and same here.
BEFORE my mom went into memory care, she gave a strand of real MIKIMOTO PEARLS that were supposed to be handed down to me, my daughter, and then one of her daughters to a neighbor kid who was about seven. She gave her them along with some Mardi Gras beads, according to her. We could never figure out which kid she gave them to or where they went but right after that, my dad made sure that he went ahead and gave all her valuable jewelry to family members. It still makes me sick that she did that but oh well. They're gone.
I tried to keep my mom's door locked in memory care but it never stayed locked. She always wanted to have a little bit of money in her wallet, so I kept on and kept on and kept on putting a dollar or two in there, and in a few days it was always missing. But like I said, my mom apparently went into other people's rooms too and took things so there's that. One thing that went missing was her "purring cat" that she thought was real, which she did manage to keep for awhile, even trying to feed it (it often had dried food on its nose). But then she had various stuffed animals that she'd gather up that I never bought her so I guess it all evened out in the end.
I just wouldn't bring anything of value to that facility. And it was a very nice facility overall.
And my mom wasn't "naturally" a thief, not at all. In fact, she used to brag saying she'd never even stolen a piece of gum before, and I never saw her take anything at all that wasn't hers. But toward the end of her life, I used to take her to a local department store because she loved to get out and loved to shop. The last time I took her, she did two things that convinced me never to take her again. One, I had my large-ish purse hanging sort of behind me while I was looking at something, and I felt her rummaging around in it. When I turned around, she had FILLED MY PURSE UP WITH MERCHANDISE. I said, "MOM - we have to PAY FOR THIS STUFF!" She just looked at me surprised and said "Why are you so mad? I want it. Let's go." The second thing she did was she left her cane somewhere, and I had to look over the whole store for it, of course with her wandering behind me. I finally found it in the baby department. While we were in that department, she found a tiny, tiny shirt for a THREE MONTH OLD and asked me if I thought it would fit her because she loved it. Mom, no.
It is sad that today stealing from elderly is acceptable in care units.
The workers really need to be well screened before allowing them to work with the elderly both for safety and security reasons.
I have read stories that when workers come to a person's home some of them will fake an accident to collect worker's comp. so you must vigilant both in a facility and at home.
And a lot of these places the rooms are not locked and it’s actually the elderly stealing from each other. Especially in a memory care unit, these people don’t really have boundaries. And they don’t know what they’re doing is wrong. They just say some thing and they take it.
I don’t think it’s necessarily the workers. I mean it could be but it’s an heirloom quilt. Value wise it doesn’t really have one. If you’re going to steal something and you’re a worker you’re going to steal something that’s highly pawnable or sellable so you can make some money.
I can remember an old Barney Miller episode, where Fish was undercover at an old folks home for a few days to figure out all the thefts. And that’s exactly what he discovered. The old people were stealing from each other because they were bored.
Theft isn't uncommon in healthcare my fathers money clip with $500 was stolen in 1994 off his nightstand when he had a cardiac arrest. I personally put it there I drove him home from work he said he wasn't feeling well thought it was just from not sleeping well I tried to get him to go to the ER he refused.
An hour later his wife went in found him not responsive I went back the fire department was taking him to an ambulance. She told me to go up to the bedroom get his wallet it was there you could see someone opened it looking for more cash, but the money clip was gone. It had to be one of the firemen who stole it there wasn't anyone else in the house.
It's unfortune I think many who work in healthcare just become numb to the situation of someone being sick, or death to them it's just a job like delivery newspapers.
Someone stole my mother's gold crucifix right off her neck when she was in a nursing home. It makes me sick to think of it to this day. I would be surprised if it were anyone but one of the workers who stole it. It was the only piece of jewelry we left with her, and she never took it off, ever. It gave her a lot of comfort. And someone thought it was OK to steal it as she was spiraling further down into dementia. The only comfort I get is thinking that maybe Karma got that person in one way or another. But most likely, they sold the crucifix and chain and went on with their life.
Someone stole my mother's gold crucifix right off her neck when she was in a nursing home. It makes me sick to think of it to this day. I would be surprised if it were anyone but one of the workers who stole it. It was the only piece of jewelry we left with her, and she never took it off, ever. It gave her a lot of comfort. And someone thought it was OK to steal it as she was spiraling further down into dementia. The only comfort I get is thinking that maybe Karma got that person in one way or another. But most likely, they sold the crucifix and chain and went on with their life.
That’s just terrible!! Yes, I hope karma got them back too!!
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Solly says — Be nice!
