Caring for your elderly parents can be challenging, and it often means you are wearing many hats. From helping with medications to providing transportation to doctor visits, you may hire a driver for the elderly so that your day fills up quickly.
And extra responsibility might mean additional costs. You may be covering some of these expenses from your own funds, especially if you have had to cut back on hours at work to make time to care for your parents. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a plan in place ahead of time.
Assessing Needs
The first step is to assess your parents’ needs. Think about both physical and mental needs to think about the care you might need to be providing. Depending on their current state of health, you may need to combine your own assistance with a healthcare professional. Of course, your assessment needs to take their wishes into account.
Depending on their needs, part of the assistance you may need to offer is financial help. Depending on the situation, legally, you could be financially responsible for offering financial support. Filial responsibility means you might need to take a look at your own finances to ensure you can offer support for long-term care. Consider educating yourself by looking over a guide about states with filial responsibility laws that you can utilize.
Speaking with Your Parents
It’s important to have open conversations with your parents about their future. You should have this conversation before something happens while they are still healthy enough to care for themselves. Still, it’s not uncommon for these talks to happen once there is a more urgent need. If there are other family members, such as siblings, they may need to be part of these conversations as well.
It’s a good idea to bring your focus toward arranging care and avoid discussing money initially. It’s important to ensure you come across as caring and rational. Don’t let your emotions rule your reactions. Instead, try to focus on the challenges facing your loved one and think about the kind of care they will most likely need. They should understand you are trying to help and that their care is your top priority.
Consider Getting the Help of a Professional
There are different types of professional care, and don’t feel that they need to enlist a professional is a failing on your part to help your parents. When you are taking care of elderly parents, making things a collaborative effort is often in everyone’s best interest. A home health aide can help them remain in their dwellings as long as possible since they can help check vitals, give medication, and change bandages.
On the other hand, traveling or visiting nurses can aid those at home, offering nursing services such as medication. If you feel that your parents are unable to live by themselves, you could look into assisted living homes. They are ideal for those who don’t require medical services that nursing homes offer but still need everyday help, such as meals and dressing. While residents live in their own spaces, staff members help them out.
