Aging parents have a lot of different issues that need to be considered when deciding what is best for personal care, ongoing care, safety, personal hygiene, and daily living. Knowing what works best for aging parents takes time, love, patience, questioning, and understanding.
Tips to help decide what’s best for aging parents
To find out what’s best for your elderly loved one, you have to look at the person and their personal health. The health of one parent can be different from the health of the other, so each person’s needs must be viewed in proportion to their own. Below is a list of 6 questions to ask about seniors who need help deciding where they can go for help:-
- Is the elderly parent able to walk, move, speak, eat, and take care of themselves through daily life?
- Does every parent need the same level of care? If so, can one person do the care?
- Can elderly parents stay home? Or do they need a nursing home?
- Does one parent need high nurturing, while the other parent only needs low nurturing? If so, can you research arrangements where the parents can stay together while receiving the necessary care?
- If the elderly needs 24/7 care, is there a family member who can provide care?
- What will happen to elderly parents if their caregiver can no longer care for them?
If you find that you can answer questions about what your elderly parents need and then find a way to help them, half your work is done. Once you’ve identified how each parent approaches their life, you’ll need to ask more questions about what’s what Best choice for your elderly parents. Some people are able to stay at home with a caregiver present every day to check on the elderly person, and other times a person may need more than 24 hours of care that can only be provided within a nursing home.
Tips to help select the best.
Let’s look at the first question and find out how you can help your aging parents. If they are still able to live independently with their daily lives and personal hygiene, you can apply for and receive home care ACAT Team Assessment The level of their care that can be provided each day by the caregiver.
What about each elderly parent – do they have the same standard of care and if so, can a single hospice nurse look after them? Then staying home is an option, and having a hospice nurse come in twice a day to help with bathing, toilet needs, medication, eating, cleaning, and living.
If they are not able to take care of themselves at home, a nursing home may be an option that should be considered. Once you have made the decision that your elderly parents can no longer stay at home for personal reasons, be sure to look for a nursing home that offers the best possible care.
What is the best option?
Asking as many questions as possible when faced with decisions about your aging parent is the best advice anyone can give you. Rather than looking at one nursing home and making decisions, it’s better to shop around and find one that will be able to take in both elderly parents, while providing a different level of care for each person who needs it. Can the parents stay together in one room, still being treated as individuals while implementing their care plan.
What about staying home?
Is there a family member who is able to care for the elderly parent(s) and who would be able to provide safe care? What about a family member who needs a vacation? Is there another family member able to step in and relieve the carer for a few days or at least a week so there is no “burnt carer out”. It is really important that you take care of yourself first when you are providing individual care at home. There are many aged care agencies that can come to the home and provide assistance when needed, it is a matter of knowing who to turn to and when to turn for help so that all elderly people and caregivers are cared for at the same time.
Tips for determining what is best for aging parents.
- Look at each parent and their needs
- Ask as many questions as possible
- Look at the best options for you and the elderly before you decide what to do
- Ask for help whenever you need a break or need more help
- Accept that you are only human and that you will make mistakes sometimes
- Take time out of the day to do something for yourself if you become the caregiver
- Know that sometimes aging parents don’t know what’s best for each other or themselves, and sometimes they need guidance.
- Remember that an elderly person is a person and will have feelings that you must take into account when looking at what is best for aging parents
If you’re looking for tips to decide what’s best for your aging parent, search and you’ll find the answers.