A hoarding senior who needs a walker is not a safe combination. As hoarders age, the clutter can make a senior fall. It can be practically impossible for an emergency crew to extract a fallen senior out of living room that is piled high with paper, extra furniture and trash. I know of a senior in my former senior living community that was wedged in between tiny pathways of books, magazines, unopened mail and clothing.
A friend of mine is dealing with a senior hoarding situation. Her father-in-law can only navigate through four rooms and has to climb over stuff to get into his bed. This gentleman is 98 years old with dementia and requires a walker.
Recently he injured his leg on a lawn mower that was in his living room. (You can’t make up this stuff.) More trip hazards included extension cords laying on the floor and throw rugs. Whenever his son tries to get rid of stuff the dad refuses. So there are three sofas in the living room and none are accessible. The son bought his dad a new flat screen TV and VCR. The new gifts were duct taped on top of the broken TV and VCR. When the dad received a new recliner for Christmas, it was positioned next to the old run down model. Every attempt to declutter is met with an irate senior who refuses to part with anything.
He should not be in this cluttery filthy home with a walker. A daughter is enabling him by bringing him groceries and medicine. There are piles of crap everywhere and you can barely make it from the chair in the living room to the kitchen.
Hoarders do vary. Some have the kitchen counters covered with expired food items. Green stuff is growing in the refrigerator. It’s a sickness. You cannot correct the problem by cleaning up for them once or twice. You can help make their environment safer on a temporary basis. But hoarding is an illness and they cannot stop until you get to the root cause of the hoarding. You cannot project your common sense on them.
Is your parent a hoarder? My mom collected bags and napkins. When I cleaned out my mom’s home, she literally had 17 black trash bags filled with bags. Wow! Have you had a hoarder move into your senior living community? What happened? Were they able to downsize their stuff?
Photo by Melody Komyerov.
With experience as both an industry expert and a loving daughter, Diane Twohy Masson is passionate about helping seniors find the retirement community that fits their price range, lifestyle, and needs. Her new guidebook offers a proactive approach to navigating the complex maze of senior housing options. It will help you understand the costs and consequences of the various possibilities, from home care to independent living, assisted living, group homes, memory care, and skilled nursing-care facilities.
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Sadly, there was a very recent situation in northeast Ohio where the amount of clutter in an older adult’s home proved to be deadly (http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-lorain/elyria-fire-kills-woman-hoarding-situation-made-it-difficult-for-crews?autoplay=true ). This was a single-family home, but it certainly emphasizes the potential danger for community environments.
Tragically, clutter and hoarding are becoming a problem for seniors and families. Older people, who worked hard and saved for things, are reluctant to give them away and nobody wants to pay for many of the items. Add in the element of dementia, and you have a serious problem that becomes more difficult with the passage of time. Families need to start early to solve this problem as it not only puts the seniors at risk, but those who may have to save them or those living around them. We had a tragic situation in Toronto with a hoarder in an apartment building, a fire and the relocation of hundreds of other tenants.
The time to take action is now.
Yes, hoarding can be a big problem. As a home healthcare provider, we see this all the time. Our company, AW Health Care (Aging Well Health Care) in St. Louis, MO, employs social workers to work with the patient and the family to help with hoarding problems. It’s a very difficult path to walk. On one hand we don’t want to get the patient upset by “cleaning up”. To the patient, their belongings are important. On the other hand, some level of sanitation has to be established because otherwise the patient may become sick. And there’s also the risk of falls due to so much clutter. Working with an involved family member can be helpful. The operative word here is “involved”!