My Mother will be 103…still lives in her own apartment in NYC with help…she is on Medicaid. It is a walk up…3rd floor..no elevator..and while she can walk with a walker, cannot do stairs. I am trying to find a way to take her outside in this nice weather just for a couple of hours maybe every week or two. The MLTC will arrange transportation to doctors appointments ( requires a two-man lift) but I just want to get her outside for a tour of the old neighborhood and some fresh air. (Her doctor makes house calls.) It would be an enormous help to her mentally. It breaks my heart seeing her sit in her small apartment hour after hour. I wonder if there are any organizations that would be of help that I could call? We looked into hiring an ambulette service to do it privately, but they wanted $700 to take her up and down. I am willing to pay, but that’s crazy. She has a transport wheelchair she could be put in and carried downstairs. I have thought about moving her to a nursing home, but she does not want to go and she has great one-on-one assistance from her home health aides. Any ideas appreciated.
Check out:
https://www.secondwind.org/dreams.html
Look around on their website, they have programs for families and facilities especially for dementia patients.
That said, as others have already mentioned you may want to seriously look at other options for her living arrangement as it would be a real safety hazard in an evacuation emergency. I believe most fire departments have the special wheel chairs that can go up and down stairs, but I would hate to wait on their services in a fire emergency.
My plan, at 103, would not be to try to live 2 weeks more, or 2 years more, or whatever. It would be, to see the neighborhood, to see the things I love. If I fall ill, while at home or outside, it's OK. I've had a long life (103). I survived many things. I would love for my daughter to take me out.
If she still knows her neighbors, they could 'flash mob' her from the street or other parts of the fire escape...like a serenade or little street party. (Cartoon idea: a piano hoist out her window...no, of course I'm kidding!) Her safety is topmost, but the Medicaid idea might work if she can have an office instead of home visit by her doc.
"She has a transport wheelchair she could be put in and carried downstairs".
Do that. She's in NYC. Visit the local firehouse in her area and ask around if any off-duty firefighters or paramedics would be willing to come on a day to bring your mother downstairs at a certain time then bring her back up.
Make them a good offer to make it worth their time. They'll probably do it for nothing because fire/police/paramedic departments always do community work to help.
Who knows? This could become a regular thing if any of them are interested in earning a few bucks on the side.