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In nearly all cases of a family member who hoards, other loved ones typically are unaware of what is going on in this regard. In many instances, loved ones learn of a hoarding situation when a family member with hoarding disorder experiences some type of emergency. For example, loved ones learn that a family member has been hoarding when that individual is taken to the hospital for some sort of medical issue.
If you have learned that a family member is hoarding after that individual has been hospitalized, you may wonder what you can do to assist that family member in regard to that hoarding situation while the family is hospitalized. There are a number of steps that you can take to assist with a hoarding situation when a family member is in the hospital.
- Consult with professionals
- Include your family member in the decision-making process if possible
- Create a holding area for items before disposing of them
- Retain services of an experienced residential cleanup company proactively
Consult Professionals
A preliminary step that you want to take when you want to restore a relative’s unhealthy home to a safe and livable condition is to reach out and consult with bona fide, experienced professionals. There are a number of important professionals that need to be a part of an effort to restore a family member’s home to a safe and healthy condition who include:
- A professional home cleanup service like Eco Bear. Eco Bear maintains an experienced team with a strong background in restoring even the most unkept or filthy homes to a safe and livable condition. These include situations in which a residence is contaminated by biohazards.
- A counselor with a background in dealing with situations involving a person having issues maintaining a healthy living environment. This includes individuals who are afflicted with hoarding disorder (more commonly known among the general public as hoarders).
Include Family Member in the Process
When facing a situation in which a person is hospitalized and you realize that his or her home is in a filthy state, you are also wise to include other family members in the process of restoring the home to a safe condition. Other family members can provide support and assistance when it comes to the immediate objective of getting the property back in order.
Perhaps even more important, involving other family members in the situation can be invaluable going forward into the future. The reality is that the hospitalized family member who has issues with residential cleanliness very well may end up in the same position in the future. This includes individuals diagnosed with hoarding disorder.
When other people are brought on board, the odds of a “relapse” are noticeable reduced. Other family members can be an invaluable supportive resource for a relative that has had issues with residential cleanliness and even hoarding.
Create Holding Area
During the cleaning process, you are likely to come upon items that you think should be thrown out but you recognize that your family member may have some sort of attachment to these objects. In the end, you need to involve your family member in the process of decided what should happen in regard to certain items. This definitely will be the case when it comes to a situation in which your hospitalized loved one is diagnosed with hoarding disorder.
You likely need to get certain items out of the way in order to be able to effectively clean and restore the premises. However, you may also have the need to hold off disposing of some of these objects. A pathway you can take is to designate what can be called a holding area. A holding area gets item that may ultimately disposed of out of the way to allow cleaning to move ahead. In addition, a holding area ensures that these types of items will be available for review by your relative when he or she is out of the hospital.
Retain Professional Cleanup Company Proactively
The need to engage the services of a professional residential cleanup company, including a hoarding remediation firm, has been discussed briefly a moment ago. The benefits that can be derived from hiring a professional residential cleanup company like Eco Bear on a proactive basis cannot be understated.
The bottom line is that you best protect the interests of your hospitalized family member by not delaying in getting a professional involved in the cleaning process. You might think that you can take on cleaning up a filthy residence on your own. Even if you start that process, you are apt to soon learn that the process of dealing with a family member’s seriously unkept home, or dealing with a relative who is a hoarder, can quickly become overwhelming. A company like Eco Bear is in a position to commence providing you the cleaning and remediation assistance you need immediately.
