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Care for Elderly Parents in Your Home
Your parents are the most precious gift of God, and choosing to care for elderly parents in your home can be a marvelous experience.
Multigenerational living is such a beautiful bonding experience that cannot be described in words. It allows you to know your aging parents in a whole new way. Seniors also love to age in a familiar place. They often prefer to stay where they have spent their entire lives. However, moving into your home keeps them close to family.
Care for elderly parents in your home is also a great way to avoid the sense of isolation and depression of your parents that may come with living alone. Moreover, it is also a budget-efficient way while also keeping your elderly parents comfortable.
Although it is a good move for some, caring for elderly parents in your home is a daunting task and an overwhelming responsibility. However, moving elderly parents in your home can also affect you and other family members. You have to consider some of the essential points to make sure the journey goes smoothly.
Below, I have outlined a comprehensive checklist of things to consider if you plan to care for elderly parents in your home.
A Comprehensive Checklist for Caring for Elderly Parents in Your Home
Step 1: Decide a Place Where your Parents Will Live
The very first step is to decide if your elderly parents will live in their own home to get home care or in an assisted living facility. You should know that the budget for at-home care or assisted living facilities are unaffordable for many.
Most elderly prefer to live at home with family. Assisted living might work for some who prefer more autonomy. But depending on non-relatives might bring an uncomfortable feeling.
So, moving your elderly parent with you into your home is the best move. It is not only financially feasible but also allows you to deliver a better measure of care than you would otherwise have to pay for.
However, also consider that moving your parents into your home with you will also lead you to privacy loss. For some families, that takes some adjustments.
It will also require renegotiation regarding specific issues like who’ll clean up after them or if they can do this themselves. The new setup may even inconvenience some of your family members in other ways. Communication with everyone is essential before making the final decision.
Some basic questions that you have to ask yourself before you move your parents into your home with you include;
- – How will the move affect your spouse, children, and siblings?
- – How will it affect your daily routine and activities?
- – Do you have a separate room, or do you need to remodel the house to add a bedroom and bathroom?
- – Are you ready to afford the extra expenses?
You should also consult with your parents and ask them the following questions before making a move;
- – Do they feel comfortable about being dependent?
- – Are they ready to openly discuss things they don’t like that the family members do?
- – Are they mentally prepared to be in the company of the family for an extended period?
Step 2: Make the Home Safe and Easily Accessible
Once you have decided to care for elderly parents in your home and your parents are ready to move in with you into your home, make sure the home is safe and easily accessible for them. In this regard, your house may need some structural modifications, but most of the steps to make the home safe for seniors need some DIY skills along with a set of helpful hands.
Step 2: Identify your Dear One’s Needs
The third most important step is assessing how much care your elderly parent needs. You should be wary of taking too much responsibility too soon because it could make you feel overwhelmed much faster and may lead you to lose sight of the bigger picture or start overlooking your health.
Create a list of daily, weekly, or monthly tasks to assist yourself in getting a clearer idea of how much and what type of care is required. This will also help you to assess how much care is needed during the day and at night. While compiling a list, having a notepad is handy. Make a note of each time your aging parent needs help with specific tasks.
After a week or so, you will have a comprehensive overview of the scope of how much and what type of care is required.
Step 3: Divide Tasks Among Family Members
Creating a schedule and dividing the tasks among other family members will make the caregiving job much easier for you. It is also essential to continue working and form social networks with other people to eliminate the risk of dragging yourself into depression, regret, chronic stress, and boredom. Dividing the caregiving tasks among other family members and friends will also ensure everyone has contributed to your dear one’s care.
So, it is vital to be realistic about how much you can do without sacrificing your health, relationships, and other responsibilities.
Another option is to enlist the services of a professional caregiver. Taking care of elderly parents in your home offers many rewards. Still, it can also be an overwhelming task for family members who also have other responsibilities requiring their attention. So, for these families, relying on compassionate professional caregivers is the best option when they need to rest, work, or even when they want to go on vacation.
Step 4: Get the Help You Need
Although it seems like finding caregiving help requires a lot of time and effort, it is an investment that is worth your time and effort. Finding help takes time, effort and asks you to think creatively, but it is an effective way to reduce load, stress, and will enable you to take regular breaks.
Keep your mind open and stay as flexible as possible.
Moreover, consider taking a look at the list you wrote down to remind yourself about the type of help you need. Some support ideas include;
- – Enroll your elderly parents in an adult day program, which will enable them to socialize and you to take the rest you need.
- – You can also hire a compassionate caregiver that will help you to get regular breaks.
- – You can also find a volunteer senior companion program in your area who is willing to take your elderly parents out on excursions.
Step 5: Seek Out the Financial Support You Need
When you decide to care for elderly parents in your home, it can really build up over time, eventually building serious financial pressure on your shoulders. The best way to reduce the financial burden of caring for elderly parents in your home is to find the financial support you need before it becomes too much.
Some suggestions include finding a government and private benefits program willing to cover some caring costs for elderly parents in your home. If your dear one gets a pension fund, involve your parents and other family members to talk about it to use caregiving needs.
Step 6: Consider Nutritional Needs of your Elderly Parents
Considering the nutritional needs of your elderly parents is incredibly important, especially when they are ill. You should also know that it is essential to eliminate malnutrition risk that could cause a lack of appetite, anxiety, depression, etc.
Shopping for groceries and preparing meals from scratch requires a lot of time and effort. Not only are you adding another family member to meals. Your loved one might have specific dietary needs, too.
So, it is vital to make simple, affordable, and tasty meals. It also means that your elderly parents do not skip meals to meet their nutritional needs regularly. Moreover, regular access to nutritional, healthy meals will also help to improve their overall health.
Step 7: Keep the Important Information with You
Emergencies can occur at any moment. You need to be ready for these kinds of instances. Keep a list of names, addresses, contact numbers, etc. of medical providers of your loved ones. Also include insurance providers, financial institutions, family members, and close friends. This is essential when you have decided to care for elderly parents in your home.
Moreover, make sure to make copies of other necessary documentation. These include your parents driving license, social security number, and insurance policies. Keep these copies in a place that is not accessible for guests.
Step 8: Plan Ahead
Your elderly parents may be able to make health decisions by themselves now, but there could come a time when you have to step up and speak on their behalf. That is why you should make sure your loved ones talk with an attorney to express their wishes ahead of time to avoid legal confrontation in the future.
Asking your parents to designate you or any other family member as their health care proxy could avoid legal battles in the near future.
Final Thoughts
Caring for elderly parents is often viewed as a labor of love. And caring for elderly parents in your home is a greatly rewarded experience. However, it is not that easy as it seems. You have to consider various points before making a move. Above, I have compiled a comprehensive checklist that will effectively plan how to care for elderly parents in your home. These steps will also help you take care of yourself effectively to avoid regret, depression, and chronic stress.
Please remember, you are not only caring for your parents. You are also building memories!
