Dad and Mom are aging, which means numerous changes are on the way. You may be walking down not so comfortable paths that you’ve never experienced before. With this article today, we explore a few common mistakes people with aging parents make and how to avoid them. This will be an essential guide for people who don’t want to love their parents and keep them happy even when they age.
Mistake 1: Not knowing the precise financial condition of your parents.
A big making people with aging parents make is not knowing whether they have a long-term care policy or not. Insurance is something that must be discussed with parents. You should know where the policies are and if they’ve everything covered. You also must take time to go through the terms and conditions for the policy and see what is accessible. If your parents do no thave an insurance policy, you should discuss alternatives and keep everything in check.
Mistake 2: Thinking ‘Nursing Home’ is a solution if your parents are sick, or if their health is deteriorating.
There is no shortage of reasonable options around these days. If your parent is rightfully resolute about staying in their own house, arranging for care there is possible. Sending them to a nursing home is not a solution.
There are ways to be very creative about linking different modalities of care. For example, a family might have their mother go to adult daycare many times a week during the day, then have a decent caregiver stay overnights, and family members take over the other times if needed. The possibilities are infinite to properly customize a plan that is just right for your position.
Mistake 3: Not getting enough help until the last minute.
This is a big one. If you wait until dad is scheduled to come home tomorrow from a doctor’s stay, it will be tough to make rational, reasonable decisions in such a short time. Trying to grow a good plan of care under such stress will be awful. My suggestion is to do your bit sooner rather than later. It’s never too early to begin to search out a few facilities or agencies, find ones you are comfy with and commence building a relationship with them. You can even plan a visit for you and your parents to a facility or have someone come to your house for an assessment. This way, if a crisis occurs, you’ll be reaching out to doctors you are comfortable with and are familiar with your parents nd their situation.
Mistake 4: Looking at cost alone when choosing care.
This can really go both ways. There are costly nursing home facilities that have abysmal track records of care. Don’t be influenced by fancy brochures, tours, and videos. Try and talk to some of the real residents and their loved ones. As for house care (which should be your preferred one. You must not send your parents out of their home when they’re old), be very cautious about picking the “cheapest” hourly rate. Remember that good caregiver demand to be paid more.
