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What do smokers do in assisted living? Do they go out to the patio? Do they smoke in their room?


I'm wondering because my dad smokes. While I'm not placing him yet, I'm wondering for when I do.


It's mainly when he is bored or anxious/nervous.

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Here there are designated smoking areas. When my mom was in a nursing home for rehab there was a patio outside. I can’t tell you how many times I saw residents light up in the hall on the way.

Did it bother me? Not in the least and I have allergies and asthma. All I could feel was if I were stuck in a place like they were, suffering with God knows what, I might be smoking too!

I’m sure some of them wished they were smoking more than just tobacco!

Please don’t lecture me about attitude. Seriously though, I truly hope that I die before I reach that stage. So many people in this nursing home were crying to go home. It was terribly depressing.

Sadly, it is sometimes necessary to place people in facilities. Too bad we can’t all just die in our sleep. That’s how I want to go.
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Hi please don't shoot the messanger guys

But if dads "pleasure"for want of a better word in life is to have a ciggie...so be it imho. ....esp when anxious ...if it settles him and makes him feel more relaxed etc. (We are all aware of the negatives of smoking. ...but this is not the main issues

I have seen homes /places etc that have garden areas allocated for this
Each place has its own rules
Im just saying in a nutshell. ..if thats his worse vice ...let him be

He probably has so many other ussues to deal with

If his dr was real concerned ...patches are an alternative to some smokers only
(But very hard to light them up. joke)
In later life ..aging lonely etc pls let him enjoy what he enjoys ...
.my great grandmother smoked to 103.

Just making light. Pls dont shoot me
Cheers
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JoAnn29 Dec 2019
I think we all agree that after a point let them enjoy their smoke. Thats OK in his own home or apt but ALs there are residents with illnesses that can't be around a smoker. I was just behind a man at Walgreens who reeked of cigerettes and it made me half sick. I haven't lived with a smoker for 45 years.
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It'll all depend on whether or not the facility allows it, but I do recommend that your dad try the VUSE vapor system. I quit smoking cigarettes 4 1/2 years ago using it. No flames, no mess, no nasty odors, and my smoker's cough (which was bad) disappeared within a week of starting the vapor.

My mother is also a smoker, and after I was using vapor only, I couldn't stand the smell of her cigarette smoke, so I started her on the VUSE, too. She'd been dropping ashes on the floor and burning holes in her dresses anyway (THAT was scary), so there was definitely a safety issue there that the vapor took care of.

Don't let the current uproar over vaping keep your dad from at least trying it. VUSE is marketed by RJ Reynolds, so the quality is consistent. The bad vapor stories you see on the news are mostly due to street THC and/or people mixing their own juice.

BTW, I use the VUSE Alto version, which I like better than the original Solo model. It took a little time to get used to vaping, but I've had no ill effects. (And no, I don't work for RJR - this is just a glowing review and recommendation.🙂)
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Confounded Dec 2019
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a smoker.

Here in California ... ALL No-Smoking Zones are also No-Vaping Zones.

Facilities may (or may not) allow *outside* smoking/vaping, in specific spaces. Access, of course, depends on whether the resident is able to get to those spaces.

If you find TOTAL non-smoking/non-vaping situations, with no legal spaces within reach ... you may want to inquire as to whether strong, long-acting nicotine patches are allowed ... AND ... can residents access them readily?

Nicotine withdrawal is tough. Not everyone can safely withstand cold turkey. Zero-tolerance is not always healthy.
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I have a friend whose parent in assisted living has converted to vaping. She vapes all day indoors at her assisted living place and is well within the rules
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It depends on each individual facility and state law. Some ALs don’t allow smoking anywhere on the premises, others allow smoking in designated areas or in the persons room.
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Here in MD at the MC my dad was in, also an AL, the residents could smoke outside. So did the staff. And at the rehab mom was in, the residents smoked on the patio out front. Most of these places know that they are not going to change those long ingrained habits.. so they do provide a place. Sort of like hotels do.. So don't let this be the deal breaker Dad clings too, just tell him there is a place he can go.. just not inside.
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My mothers retirement community- several buildings and some free standing cottages and duplexes- did not allow smoking on the property.

The sidewalk surrounding the complex was public property- so that’s where the smokers went.

Use to crack me up... one old guy
would sit on his walker-seat and smoke - just to the side of the driveway I used when visiting. The part that cracked me up? He always had his oxygen tank with him. He was a tough old goat!
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JoAnn29 Dec 2019
You know he shouldn't have been smoking around oxygen. And that is another reason people wouldn't be able to smoke in a facility, residents using oxygen.
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My mom was in an assisted living facility for a few months after her stroke and emergency brain surgery. They gave her nicotine patches.
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Okay, seriously this isn’t funny but sometimes we have to laugh or cry, right?

My now deceased brother who had many issues smoked in the ER at the hospital! I about died. The guy next to him had oxygen.

I told my brother that if he didn’t put out the cigarette I was walking out that second. His response was, “Okay, but just let me take a few more drags first.”
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AndreaE Dec 2019
Sometimes all we can do is try to find the humor in certain situations lol.
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My Great-Great-Aunt was a chain smoker. She had to go to the desk to ask for cigarettes and smoked where she was told to smoke. It stopped when she forgot how to get them, she didn't remember she had to ask for them.
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