I was recently talking with an elderly aunt about my recent fishing trip to Belize and she has expressed an interest in, perhaps visiting there on a long term basis. She presently resides in an "assisted living" facility in central Missouri and has asked if similar places might be available on the Caye. I told her I would ask. Personally I'd jump at the chance to move down on a long term basis if the living facilities could be worked out. My wife and I are the last of the family members able to care for her needs and as such are pretty much committed to living in close proximity. We have even considered a long term lease on a 3br place in San Pedro and having a full time housekeeper. "Any Thoughts"... Assisted Living residences,,, Nursing homes,,, Medical facilities on the island?

If she doesn't want to leave the house very often - she'll probably be ok. Otherwise, it's hard for older folks to get around - from what I've seen.

in my past life, i worked for several years for a Long Term Care, Skilled Nursing, and assited living company in the states. there is absolutely NOTHING like that here on the island, HOWEVER, its my suspicion that if she is only in need of assisted living, having her live at home with home care would be a great option. A dear friend of mine on the island is an RN from the states, and is actually looking to do this sort of work (she also does child care and babysitting for tourists). Anyway, there are absolutely options for her daily care.

as for medical facilities, there are a number of clinics on the island, but understand you are NOT going to get the same technology here for her (or yourself for that matter). There are however, a number of really great medical practitioners on the island that can give the basic care.

i do know that a friend has a friend who just left the island due to liver cancer in advanced stages. most people would want to be here to die, but unfortunately, the island and country are not able to provide some things he would need in order to be comfortable in his last days.

not knowing your aunts situation, this is the best advice i can give ya! good luck in your decision

Moving an elderly person to an island that does not have the level of medical facilities we had in the States in 1945, is not in my opinion a great idea. A clinic here is a Doctor without equipment, even medicanes are difficult to get. Example: I can not get my blood preasure medicane here and when I need an anti-biotic they prescribe one that has been around 25 years.
If your Aunt is in good health and wants some adventure before it is to late, then maybe it is worth a trip down for a visit. Perhaps a 2 week vacation would be enough to satisfy her desires and yours.
Another thought, if you would be willing to live in a 3 br apt. with your Aunt in a place where you have no support system perhaps you might think about such an arrangement right where you are.
Some ideas are just wonderful to day dream about but reality is another story.

Well we lived it and did it with my mom in Belize. But my mom never wanted extreme measures to keep her alive. Getting her medicines was difficult at times but we did it. And we had a Belizean lady live in full time to care for her who was the greatest gift we ever had. So it can be done but not all are the same. We had a friend here in PG who had ALS, and we were unable to get him strong enough pain medication towards the end, so he ended up going back to the US for hospice care in the last couple of weeks.

Right you are Ken (indy)
The thing is Don, that the San Pedranos actually take care of their old folks, instead of institutionalizing them like in the states.So there is no mind set for assisted living facilities here. But in my humble opinion it is a service gap that will soon be filled.
Stay black!
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