Well, the advice I wish I'd given myself is simply, if your parent just may not have more than a year to live, get in the habit of acting as if every fortnight just might be their last. It's easier to get into that habit however when there is no real immediate prospect of their death. Like saving, it's easier when you don't need to do it. When the time approaches, it is hard to get everything in order because in our case, we were fighting her corner for so long, we were kind of in denial a bit and it seemed to be bad faith to accept that the end was nigh.
In your case, well, as good as it is to have a bit of the radio, maybe Classic FM on low. Remember they can't turn it off so that can become a form of torture if left on. Myself I would have had an iPod with a Playlist on it of maybe 20 tracks, quiet classical, then it switches off at the end of the Playlist. That said, some classical stuff can be pretty depressing so be selective.
I wish I'd got a vinyl turntable for my mother's room. Pioneer do one for £120 or so, get an amp and two speakers, get a handful of LPs and singles in. The music resonates so much more than on any CD and that can make a big difference when the batteries run down. I was listening to that stuff myself but by the time I thought of it for Mum in the care home, it was at that stage where to get that is tempting fate somehow. Only do this if your parent is a music lover mind!
If you have the telly on avoid the news programmes or anything else talky. Avoid leaving that stuff on, I mean have it for five mins if you are in the room, but do not sit watching that stuff. Every word said by the commenters will be like a nail hammering into their head. Again, I only realised that too late.
Avoid anything 'stimulating' or take caution with it. What enlivens you may have the opposite effect for them. Can you parent drink? Lipton's Peach Tea is good, not too rich but a nice taste. Use a straw.
Have it fixed so they are comfortable in bed and sat up a bit, from the waist not the shoulders. Even at night time, esp if there is a swallowing problem. Never leave them in bed in darkness imo. Have door ajar.
All you are looking for is their safety, comfort and happiness.
Can you get them to the dentist for a teeth clean? The oral hygenist? That stuff can make a difference in the last few weeks.
But despite all I've said, also avoid running around like a blue arse fly doing stuff. A parent's passing can take you by surprise even when it shouldn't. Do not think it will always be next week. And it does tend to happen when you 'drop the ball' or it feels like that anyway. The point when you 'let go' that is to say, after all this mental tension, you walk out of the room. That can happen literally, it doesn't always happen that they pass away with all their family around. For some people, dying is a very personal thing, they are waiting for you to leave so they can depart of their own free will a bit. The more you stress, the more it can feel like the moment you wind down is the moment they depart.
Oh, and sorry to be morbid. This is important. a) Get some nice photos of your mum print them out and put them in frames from Wiko's or TK Max. Do it now. The photos I had up around the place when my mother was alive I can enjoy looking at, they offer a sense of warmth and continuation. Any photo I got made up after she died, I can't look at, no matter how 'good' it is. I had no idea of this at all and wish I'd got more made up when she was alive b) This is morbid, but I wished I'd visited the cemetery before my mother had died, and checked it out. Ideally I wish I'd done that months or years earlier. It's best to enter into a relationship with the place while your parent is alive, because now I only associate the place with bleakness and bereavement.
Regards your situation, if you want a sample of the hell of care homes, visit the Your Voice Matters website. Social Services never allowed us to have our parent back to the family home. They offered to allow it, but it turned out to be a ruse, so they could make out we were likely to abscond with them from the care home and so on. Surrey County Council's Social Services absolutely went for us after I whistleblew a care home in Banstead, Surrey, that had nearly killed her in 2014. Their Adult Safeguarding team are a bunch of white-collar thugs and all still employed. Other people lose their lives but they don't lose their jobs - they know too much to be let go!
So your situation seems okay to me, it could be worse. And yes, have the key items such as pictures or what have you from her own home in the room.
