I am not sure where to post this because it is not directly related to health, but rather to care.
My husband has been in a care home since July. He is in his early sixties and spent a considerable time in psychiatric hospitals after experiencing depression, delusions and hallucinations. He also had an experience where his 'legs gave way' just prior to the mental health crisis.
In hospital, he seemed to become weaker. He began shuffling about three years ago, but this became much more profound over the last year, and he has developed a stoop and now needs a frame to help him walk.
He went to the care home in July. It is a home that specialises in supporting people with MH issues. However, his 'condition' has seemed to get worse over the past six months. He has problems with his bowels, he is apathetic, he struggles to get out of bed (physically) and he does nothing, even when offered activities.
He went into hospital after being unable to get out of bed and soiling himself (sorry for being a bit graphic). He was in hospital for two weeks, and it was there that he was given the frame to walk with.
He left hospital on Friday and a support worker from the home (which is just opposite the hospital) supported him to walk back to the home. However, my husband fell and now has a large bruise on his face.
My problem is that there seem to be two distinct assumptions about the cause of my husband's problems, and I feel this is affecting the care he receives.
The first assumption is that my husband is very depressed, and very anxious and is afraid of moving because he does not want to experience his legs giving away as they did before. Therefore, he does not walk, and this has caused him to become unsteady on his feet. This is the assumption that the care home have and it influenced the treatment (or lack of treatment) he received in hospital because the hospital communicated primarily with the home.
The second assumption is expressed by two doctors (both psychiatrists) and it is that my husband has some type of neurological condition, that has caused his difficulties with movement and also contributed to his mental health problems. He has been referred for a specialist appointment which should take place in two or three weeks time.
My husband has an upstairs room at the home. There is only one banister, the other side is a stair lift that is never used. Since his fall on Friday, he has become very frightened of attempting to descend the stairs. Also he cannot carry anything like a cup of tea up the stairs due to his balance problems and weakness in his wrist.
He remains in his bed most of the time. Staff do check on him and they ask him to take a shower. My husband cannot access the shower, nor can he get into a bath unaided. Staff seem to think he could if only he tried.
I do not want to complain if it is the case that my husband really does need to be encouraged to move, and is capable of doing a lot more than he thinks he can do. However, I am sure he has genuine problems with mobility. He has a significant bruise on his face, the GP sent him to hospital because he could not get out of bed and he had soiled himself. He walks with a frame (even though he is placed in an upstairs room). Two years ago, he was a strong, robust man who walked for miles, drove every day and was meticulously clean. I am just concerned about the decline and the possibility that his needs are being inadvertently neglected.