It’s important to be proactive and discuss senior care needs with elderly parents.
Being together during the holidays is a good time to catch up and an ideal time to have discussions with elderly parents about long-term care planning for senior care needs. Having an open and honest conversation around senior care needs, home modifications and finances is important to help meet the wishes of senior loved ones.
Abby Senior Care, a trusted provider of non-medical home care in Denver and throughout the surrounding areas, has put together some important questions for you to cover during your conversation:
- Would you like to continue to live at home as you grow older, or consider a move elsewhere? The majority of older adults want to remain at home throughout aging over a move to a nursing home or assisted living facility, or moving in with adult children. If this is the situation with your parents, think through any changes that need to occur to enable that desire to become a reality: home modifications together with overall layout of the home, as well as a strategy for support if a chronic illness, disability, or simply the difficulties of aging make it challenging to remain safe and independent.
- What community services, amenities, and organizations do you want to continue to access? Naturally, your parents will need to be able to get food and other essential supplies and keep up with medical appointments and procedures, but discover what else may be important to them as they grow older, such as attending religious services, hair and/or nail salon appointments, sporting events, visits with friends and neighbors, etc. How will they keep up with these activities and tasks if they become unable to drive?
- How will the price for any long-term care needs be covered? Financial circumstances tend to be a sensitive subject to broach with your aging parents; nonetheless, it’s imperative to make sure a plan is in place to meet future needs. If this hasn’t been done already, now is the perfect time for you to ensure your parents have selected a power of attorney and met with a financial planner who is able to review savings, investments, estate planning, retirement funds, insurance, etc. and develop a plan to pay for any possible expenses related to aging care.
- Who is in your network of support? It is a wise idea to assemble a list of your parents’ close friends, neighbors, along with other family members who will be available to assist in the event of emergency or simply as your parents’ abilities change through aging. Prioritize the list in the order your parents prefer them to be contacted if a need occurs, and then share the list with anybody who may have the need to reach out to them (including those on the list themselves).
Abby Senior Care’s experts in non-medical home care in Denver and surrounding areas work with older adults and their families as they plan for long-term senior care needs. Because our home care services are highly individualized, we can begin providing assistance in only a few areas, for just a couple of hours each week, such as assistance with meals, housekeeping, and running errands, and you can add in additional support over time as needed.
Contact our aging care experts at 303-699-8840 for the trusted support your senior parents need to remain safe, comfortable, and thriving at home for a lifetime. We’re always available to answer any questions you may have, and also to schedule a no-cost in-home assessment to share more about how we can help.