Welcome to our new Elder Care blog.
Our first topic is about the inception of elder care in your family:
How to Assess, Decide, Prepare and Cope.
This is the first of a four-part series of items that must be considered before the inception of care given by the family.
There is much to consider when discussing elder care with our parents. As a family, whether considering one of the children’s homes or a rest home/assisted living, there are at least a dozen critical items to be assessed. Here are the first three that should be considered:
Aging Parent’s Physical/Mental Health
Costs of In-your-home Elder Care and Rest Home/Assisted Living
Family Awareness (Extended Family)
Aging Parent’s Physical/Mental Health
For every family the physical and mental attributes of an aging parent will be different. Physical disabilities and mental disabilities manifest so differently and the consequences must be considered when deciding where an elderly parent should live, the level of physical help and the level of mental mediation that will be needed.
Costs of In-your-home Elder Care and Rest Home/Assisted Living
Included among costs to be compared are physical space, skilled care, medications, food, clothing, transportation, entertainment, utilities, taxes and exercise. There are online sites that include pricing for nearly every level of care in nearly every city/community in every state–all in one handy place so you can shop and compare in the privacy of your home without interference from the vendors.
Family Awareness (Extended Family)
This is one of the most important single items in the list. Sharing of the costs, attention and time are so important–especially when providing in-your-home elder care. And unless you have been there and done that, you do not realize what is involved and the time demands. Remember, it’s 24/7.
Tom Dyke, author of Mama Moves In, and his wife moved his mom into their home for the last 5 1/2 years of his mom’s life. Not having a book and online databases for elder care information and products when he was the primary elder care provider, he wrote a book and built online databases to help those coming along behind him–he knew the help they would need to assess, decide, prepare and cope with the elder care challenge of an aging parent.
Comments on any and all of the items are encouraged.
You may visit Tom’s website at: www.MamaMovesIn.com.
