Guidelines for Facilitating In-Home Care for Aging Parents
Talking to Your Parents about Home Care At AccuAid Care, we have helped thousands of families navigate the challenges that arise with aging. We create personalized care plans for seniors so they receive the lifestyle assistance, personal care and companionship that is suited to their needs while maintaining as much independence as possible. Our framework for an open and honest discussion about home care can help you and your loved ones recognize the need for care and understand how it can positively impact all of your lives.
How Can Home Care Help You?
A caregiver can be a tremendous source of support for seniors as they age. Our caregivers provide support for all activities of daily living, including bathing, grooming, dressing, ambulating, household tasks, meal preparation and transportation. They also provide companionship and encourage mental and physical stimulation to promote independence and overall wellness. Caregivers are available on a hourly or around the clock basis depending on an individual’s needs. Our Care Plans are tailored specifically to our client’s condition.
Whether they are transitioning home from the hospital, recovering from a stroke, or managing a disease such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, we can help.
How to Encourage Your Parent to Accept Help
If resistance remains high, involve your parent’s physician. A recommendation
from his or her doctor, a trusted professional, goes a long way and takes the onus off of you.
Approach your parent with a united front. Approaching the conversation with siblings or other family members may help. When everyone is on the same page and saying the same thing, your parents may be more open to suggestions.
Go slow and start early. Accept the fact that some changes may
be a long time coming. Start by offering help here and there and then increase support as needs evolve. The earlier you begin these conversations with your aging parent, the more successful you will be.
Take your time with anything new. Hire an in-home caregiver for a few days as a trial. This approach will allow your loved one to warm up to the idea, and makes it harder for him or her to refuse.
Involve a doctor. If the resistance remains too much, call for backup. If resistance remains high, involve your parent’s physician. A recommendation from his or her doctor, a trusted professional, goes a long way and takes the onus off of you.
Call us today to learn more about how we can help. We are happy to help facilitate a family meeting and answer questions – without any obligation. (817) 754-0089
Arranging a Family Meeting to Discuss Aging
We recommend scheduling a family meeting to discuss your parents’ care needs,whether they are immediate, or will become an issue in the future. It is critical to set an agenda and address all the difficult questions associated with aging, but it is even more important to understand how every family member feels about the various care options.
Be open about your worries. It is important to be upfront and communicate your concerns; help your parents understand why you’re worried about them and give them an opportunity to share their own concerns with you. Be open about any fears and offer support to one another.
Consider home care for aging in place. Do your parents prefer to age at home like 9 out of 10 seniors do? Home care provides a comprehensive solution that serves as an alternative to a senior community or nursing home. Home care also provides personalized, one-on-one care at all times, oftentimes being more cost effective than an assisted living facility.
Decide together what is most important. Many of our parents simply don’t want to become a burden to us as they age. Draft a list of tasks that you or your siblings would have to take on without additional support. Make sure you communicate clearly with one another so that you arrive at an informed and collective family decision.
Discuss exactly what a caregiver does. Caregivers are not there to take away independence, nor are they there to do everything for your mom or dad. Caregivers provide help with tasks when it is needed and stand back when it is not. Most important, our caregivers provide compassion and companionship to our clients and peace of mind to their family members.
