My grandad is 90 years old and is very good for his age. He seems more like he is in his 70s, takes his supplements and still has his independence and drives long distance on the motorway to his caravan.
Lockdown has affected him. For 3 months we were not able to see him due to the government restrictions which at the beginning no-one was allowed inside his property due to his age. My mom and her siblings visited rarely due to the government and media saying they would be a risk to him.
My grandad felt lonely so he would go out to the shops which I think would have been worse mixing with all of those people but understandable due to the loneliness. He recently told my mom he has been depressed as everything is closed and he has not seen his friends and social clubs are still closed.
Yesterday he had a flu jab and a blood test. After his flu jab he rang my uncle and said he was lost and said he had to go. After many hours of trying to contact him my mom and uncle had to call the Police and were speaking to different Police forces who eventually tracked him down after seeing him on motorway cameras.
This has been very frightening for everyone as we did not know where he was and if he was safe. My family had to go and collect him about 120 miles away which was a 2 and a half hour drive and got back in the early hours.
We visited him today and made sure he ate food which we prepared him and he seemed like his old self again. He even said he thinks he had a reaction to the needles and that he had not eaten before his flu jab hence probably why he was confused. He tends to be complacent with eating which causes him to be confused at times.
I am a bit worried as some relatives want to put him in a care home. The rest of the family disagree due to 2 other relatives who were neglected in care homes which we later found out from the newspaper one was in a care home where patients were physically abused the same time our relative was there.
I don't think my grandad needs to go in a care home as they don't look after people and it is a high risk environment for covid. He is not severe for alzheimers or dementia, can get dressed, washed, toilet, read, talk etc but just needs help. He is knowledgable and you can have a coherent conversation with him.
I am going to help by visiting him now and cooking and cleaning etc.
I am so angry about this lockdown, lots of people were breaking the rules and making non essential visits to everybody and yet my grandad needed help and support.
Does anyone know where I can get some extra support from such as organisations etc? I don't really want random people going into his property stealing from him.
Thanks.