Helping elderly with mental problems.....

[CMS_SAFECRAKR1]

Lately i have done a couple jobs that just make me feel bad for those i have done the work for....Anyone want to share thier experience and solutions (if you could find one)

First one is a older lady that bought a gun safe a while back when her kids where in town for holidays because she was convinced that people next door where breaking in when she wasn't home and stealing and moving things. I get a call about every other month because she wears out the keypads on the lock from heavy use (she opens it more than 30 times a day). The contents of the safe are what bothers me, her meds, baking supplies, depends, and other random worthless junk fill the safe. She is always in fear when im there cause she thinks people are lurking in her basement and i clear her basement everytime i'm there to be kind and make her feel at ease. She always tries to offer me stuff and want me listen to a new song (reality the same song) she plays on the piano before i go. Its really kinda of sad because she has no close family living by and i just know someday they will find her body after something happens.

Second customer i have is a old gent that was married for 70 years to his wife (he is 90) and she died 2 years ago, he thinks some drunk guy he served in korea with is sabotaging his house and he constantly wants his house rekeyed. He has no family and he constantly calls because his locks "dont" work, but in reality he doesn't have the strength to turn the knob or key, I have run out of ideas to help him, he has no close family to contact. Saddest part is he carries around his wifes favorite dress and purse on a hanger, and because its winter it has a jacket on it. he says he takes his wife everywhere.....even has me make her a key for her purse everytime i come over to "fix" his locks. He has very bad alzheimer's.

Its just depressing to see people live like that, We never look forward to going to their houses (we all have the addresses memorized).

How does everyone here handle these situations when you cant figure out a close relation to convey concerns with? Call State? Agency on aging?

[1mrchristopher]

York County Area Agency on Aging

York

York County AAA
100 West Market Street
York, PA 17401-1341
Tel: (717) 771-9610
Toll free: (800) 632-9073
Fax: (717) 771-9044
Web site: www.ycaaa.org
E-mail: aging@yorkcountypa.gov

Services:
APPRISE: (800) 632-9073 or (717) 771-9008
Ombudsmen: (717) 771-9610
Protective Services: (800) 632-9073

I think the number you want is the last one. I've only been at this a matter of months, and count myself lucky that the few older folks of questionable mental stability I've dealt with do have family nearby.

[Squelchtone]

So I'm not a working locksmith, so I hope you don't mind me posting here in your new area but I was just listening to the police scanner (one of my other favorite hobbies) and the dispatcher asked a unit to respond to the elderly housing authority apartments because one of the tenants believes another tenant there has him under surveillance.

It's kinda sad to hear that sort of stuff, especially from folks who are getting on in years.

:/
Squelchtone

[Sinifar]

Over the years we have had tons of these people. They are old, afraid of just about everything, and lonesome. It is a sad case when you get the call to come out and rekey the place, and they have FOUR deadbolts on each of the three doors, two of which are MEDECO, and they claim the neighbor is sneaking in and stealing their spoons. OH ya those deadbolts are on all three door, making six Medeco deadbolts, keyed different of course! Third call out there in a month, and I called social services to have a look. She went into a memory loss unit and died with in six months. Tough case.

Elders especially those who have no family, friends or hobbies usually go this route. They want the attention they had when they were younger, and are now socially isolated. Tradesmen usually get the call because we will come out there and pay attention to them. What do you do bill them?

This is taking advantage of somebody, and should not be encouraged.

If they have nobody to take care of them and they are living in a total hoarding mess, and quite a few of them are, then it is time to call social services and let the elder hotline people do their best to do something for them.

Trust me, I am the care giver for my wife of 42 years, and she is totally dependent on me. IF I ever went down, she would be lost to the world. On top of all that I still keep the house, do everything around here AND STILL run the business. A lot of my plate, but somebody has to do it. To put her back into a nursing home, memory care unit, or assisted living would cost between 5 and 10 grand a month, which we don't have, so I end up with the whole shebang on my "to-do" list. Not a lot of fun, but I know what it takes to handle this situation.

Not looking for praise or sympathy, but just telling it like it is in today's complex money driven world.

Sinifar

[CMS_SAFECRAKR1]

Thanks for your answers and insights, those phone numbers i will have to save. its a shame but we all carry on Thanks everyone

[billdeserthills]

What I find more interesting are the old folks who are actually being harassed. My current case is an 84 y/o woman who claims that someone has been entering her home & stealing things, moving her pictures around along with her clothes. On my first visit i figured, oh yeah, another one of these, but I did keep my eyes open and I noticed right off that her kitchen window had been tampered with so the latch no longer locked, even when the window was closed. I have been back several times now and all her windows have window locks now, on the inside. Most of her doors have Medeco locks and the couple that do not will no longer open from the outside with a key. She no longer looks or sounds afraid when I see her and my detective friend checks up on her regularly. Her job is the first one I have really believed, when she tells me that someone is trying to get in & they no longer do get in either! Keep an eye out, I know in her case the physical evidence of attempted breaking in is overwhelming. Not all of these older folks are making it up...

[Eyes_Only]

In some of these calls I've been to it was their adult children, or their grandchildren who were stealing, or taking advantage of them.

[billdeserthills]

In some of these calls I've been to it was their adult children, or their grandchildren who were stealing, or taking advantage of them.

I had a client years ago, she was worth over $20 million and her kids wanted her to die. She was in her late 80's and she was 90% blind, when I met her she had been bedridden
for months and I really liked her, we would chat for hours. One day she gave me all her guns, save one & I knew she meant to off herself with it. I convinced her to have a physical
therapist begin treating her and that guy actually got her walking around again. Once her kids turned her into a state agency for the elderly under the guise that "mom might hurt herself
cause she's sooo old" here in AZ the state sends out a guy who makes sure you won't become a danger to yourself and need to be locked up for your own good. Fortunately pretty much all
she did all day was listen to CNN, and she knew every current event so that plan failed. They kept after her though and after not seeing them for many years one saturday they were invited
over for a visit, the next day was Mother's Day and she shot herself, or someone shot her, I know I got to rekey the house for one last time, care of her lawyer. I was lucky not to see the carpet.

[billdeserthills]

So I'm not a working locksmith, so I hope you don't mind me posting here in your new area but I was just listening to the police scanner (one of my other favorite hobbies) and the dispatcher asked a unit to respond to the elderly housing authority apartments because one of the tenants believes another tenant there has him under surveillance.

It's kinda sad to hear that sort of stuff, especially from folks who are getting on in years.

:/
Squelchtone

The saddest thing to me is many times they are picking the wrong folks to ask for help from. I hate to hear that the state sent out somebody
and then you never see the people again