In another discussion, the question was asked about how to secure your house when hiring in-home help. I would like to hear more about how to do this. Valuables, medical records, financial information and other private things are in different places all over the house. We're not to the point of needing in-home help yet but could be soon. One of my children suggested having a lock put on one of the closets. Would it be practical to gather up all this stuff and put it in a locked closet? What have all of you in this position done?
A big safe for valuables like jewelery and important papers like deed to the house, pink slips for cars , trust documents etc Locking file drawers for bills and bank statements and check books/saving passbooks. Locking cabinets for silver, crystal and anything like that which is valuable, sentimental goods..
What I did in TX, after I found evidence of caregivers trying on my mom's clothes( she was trim and those women were not plump, they were fat and ruined her knit outfits) I put a dead bolt on the walk-in closet. Also you can lock rooms, guest room for example..use a dead bolt not something that can be picked. If you have a lot of things and need more storage space, you might consider a climate controlled storage facility...might need something like that to store furniture in the even you need hospital bed etc in the home..
Also have a filing system requiring all receipts in case the caregiver be live in or not, must put gas receipts for the car, grocery bills, dry cleaning, lawn maint bills and so forth..let them know they are being watched closely by the security you put in place and if necessary consider nanny cams.
Try to figure out what will be the least inconvenient for you. Don't forget, while securing things like financial info and medical records, you will still need frequent access to them. What has worked the best for me is having a home office with everything in locked file and desk drawers. Some people prefer just to lock the whole room up and have it "off limits". If you do it that way, you can still leave out bills that need to be paid, etc. and just lock the room. I prefer locking up the materials instead so that the room is open and can still be vacuumed by the aides.
i bought a 3 drawer metal file system and transferred all important papers to it with a lock/chain thru the handles. it works fine. you can find st any of the office suplply places. or maybe even home depot. deadbolts put on closets for security also is a must. and of course if you can use an agency that has bonded employees and background checks that will be a great help.
A secure closet is not a bad idea. However today everyone on the internet knows how to bump open a lock. I would suggest that you go to a locksmith and have them install a deadbolt (Schlage B160) with a primus cylinder. Just tell them you want a CP1 primus cylinder. Your retail outlets will not be able to make these keys. Make sure get an extra key or two in case you lose one. With a solid core door, hinge pins and a primus cylinder you would have a reasonably secure space for your valuables without spending a great deal of money. I would also suggest that you buy a small Sentry fire safe for your important papers. Not all safes are fire resistant. Just make sure it has a UL tested label on it. These are not bad little safes and provide pretty good protection for your important papers without spending a every cent you have
That is what we uses, a deadbolt and only my brother and I had the keys to get into the closet. I had my mom's fine china, crystal, silver coffee service, sterling silver, jewelry, fragrances, you name it..things of my dad's too..you could hardly beat your way into that closet but things were safe and sound...and it drove some of the caregivers nuts..one actually asked if I thought she was a thief..I said who knows about anyone that comes in and out of this house and would you want to be blamed if something precious to me goes missing? That ended that conversation.
I did the dead bolt thing AFTER my mom's mink hat was taken, some jewelry, and other household things AND when I over heard two caregivers talking and one said, AFTER THESE PEO[E ARE GONE, I WANT THAT LAMP IN THE OFFICE..( it is a delicate desk lamp for ladies and has a floral feature. very pretty and unusual.) Others dared to say to my face WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ALL YOUR PARENTS THINGS AFTER THEY ARE GONE AND WHAT CAN I HAVE?
Too bloody cheeky for my liking so I always look over my shoulder and I keep close tabs on anyone in my house at any time.
Thanks everyone for the comments and advice. Food was actually stolen from one elderly couple by an agency aide. Their son, who buys their groceries, noticed that soft drinks, snacks, canned and frozen food, etc. was going much faster than his parents could have used it. Another lady I knew had checks stolen by the lady who stayed with her and her checking account was cleaned out. This one was not from an agency but just someone who sits with people.
Emily, we really don't have valuables either but the thought of someone going through my personal stuff or taking things that are meaningful to me makes me want to lock up everything. We can't very well lock up food, and someone posted that the aides even tried on her mother's clothing. As Nikii would say Ackkkkkkk!
I think, as a general rule, there is probably more theft when aides are caring for a dementia patient who doesn't have a relative living in the house with them. It isn't possible to lock up food, but I know I'd notice immediately if something was gone. Checkbooks/refills and cash should be the first thing anyone locks up! I've also heard of medications being taken if they have any "street value" (doubt that there's a demand for Aricept out there)!
Even when relatives are around of come through often, theft happens..that was our experinece. Items don't have to have a high $$$ to it, sentimental is just as valuable. We noted foods gone too. What we did with my dad, since caregivers sometimes needed to pay with a check my dad would have signed, there had to be a receipt to match the invoice be it groceries, pool cleaner whatever and there was only a certain amount in the checkbook and the caregivers never knew what the amount was...we enlisted the help of the bank too to let us know if anything odd showed up/ AS to foods.. if you are at home but also have aides that do come stay while you are out, have an obvious foods checklist..I have my pantry set up like grocery shelves and I know where everything is..and lists or inventories can put them off from stickyfingeritis..I do that with my luggage as a bit not so timid hint to the TSA goons as to what exactly is in my bag and I leav the list on top and let them know I have a copy with me...never miss anything yet but I know others have had theft at security.
Also I would go so far as to lock guest rooms or other rooms and put a thread or something to let me know if that door has been opened.. Another little trick, if you have wall to wall carpet...most people don't think too much about this but if you hoover your carpet just so, and you remember how your tracks go, you can tell if someone has been in that room after you hoover it up...I'm talking about guest rooms or other rooms that are not otherwise a public room...office...anything like that.
This is all very good advice. Isn't it sad that there is a world out there ready and waiting to take advantage of helpless people? How can these people live with themselves?
My daughter works with a gal whose FIL has AD. Her husband is an only child and mom and dad were very wealthy. When mom died, that's when they discovered dad had AD. Well, long story short, the live-in caregiver they hired convinced demented dad to marry her and now has control of all the assets and the son is out in the cold. She has even turned dad against his only son. So, we not only have to worry about theft of stuff, but of how the caregiver might influence our lo against us.
I just hate having to be so suspicious - this sucks!