According to AARP, more than 90% of adults 65 and older prefer to remain in their homes and age in place. Taking care of elderly parents at home can be challenging, but it’s one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do. There are so many benefits to supporting a parent’s desire to age in place, two of the most important being their continued independence and dignity.
In addition, choosing this option ensures aging adults get to remain in the comfort and familiarity of their homes and neighborhoods while remaining consistently engaged in their social networks.
Caring for Aging Parents at Home
Aging in place and benefitting from a high quality of life requires a multi-faceted, long-term care plan and access to ample senior support resources. After decades of experience caring for clients in their homes or their adult children’s homes, we’ve assembled this general guide on how to take care of your loved one while also ensuring caregivers enjoy a high quality of life too!
1. Create a progressive, long-term care plan
Age-related decline is progressive, which means a person’s abilities diminish over time. Therefore, what is needed now looks different from what might be required a month, six months, or two years from now. That is especially true if your parent has existing health conditions or a dementia-related diagnosis.
Over time, your parent’s faculties will diminish, requiring the implementation of a long-term care plan. Ideally, this long-term care plan should include input and requests from your parent so their wishes are honored to the best of your ability.
The plan should be mindful of both age and health-related progression, so you know exactly when to bring in the help you’ll need. This includes planning to provide services that address current and future needs, such as:
- Regular companionship and wellness checks
- Creating a safe and accessible home environment
- Transportation services
- Grocery shopping and meal support
- Light housekeeping chores
- Laundry and linen changes
- Medication reminders
- Personal and hygiene care
- Access to their friends, social network, favorite seasonal/holiday events, hobbies, interests, etc.
- Pet care
- Overnight supervision
Whenever possible, consider planning multiple senior care conversations within the framework of a family meeting. Keeping the entire family informed helps them to understand the impact on those taking part in the hands-on caregiving responsibilities.
This often inspires siblings, grandchildren, and other close loved ones to offer additional support—even if they can’t be there in person.
2. Begin meeting with Inland Empire home care agencies
Now is the time to begin scheduling free assessments with licensed home care agencies in the Inland Empire. Even if you’re not ready to start home care services, find your best match before you need them. This makes it much easier to get the ball rolling when you’re ready to take advantage of in-home care services.
Once you do, the caregiving team is a tremendous resource for information, education, caregiver training, and emotional support.
Assessments are invaluable for providing recommendations that support creating a personalized care plan for your parent. During these initial meetings, we let prospective clients know all of the services available to them, including community resources and financial planning ideas.
3. Create a financial care plan
Many families “share the care” by contributing to care costs. While paying for in-home care and services may feel overwhelming, we assure you it’s possible. The trick is to cast a wide financial planning net and combine a range of financial resources, such as:
- The senior’s savings and retirement plan (these are the “rainy days” your loved one saved for)
- Investments
- Medicare/medical options
- PACE programs
- Veteran’s (VA) benefits
- Reverse mortgage options
- Monthly contributions from family members who live too far away to help out with respite care shifts
Scheduling a consultation with a fee-based financial planner specializing in retirement and senior financial plans is an excellent way to determine what actionable steps need to be taken for tackling senior care costs.
4. Look into local adult daycare options
In the beginning, your loved one may be able to independently attend events and social gatherings. However, with the progression of mobility issues or memory loss, adult day care may be the more realistic option during the weekday hours and offer an excellent addition to the senior care support plan.
There are multiple options for seniors living in San Bernardino or Riverside counties. These offer a way for seniors to connect with others in a supervised setting while their primary caregivers go to work, attend to their personal needs, remain engaged with friends, participate in the family’s extracurricular activities, and so on.
5. Integrate regular, consistent respite care support
In many cases, aging parents receive excellent care in their home, but it’s at their child’s or primary caregiver’s physical, mental, and emotional expense. Caregivers must make themselves and their self-care a priority. If you will be providing the lion’s share of the caregiving, it’s time to begin creating a respite care schedule.
Respite care is available for short or long shifts, overnights, weekends, or extended periods. These much-needed breaks are essential for maintaining a caregiver’s physical and emotional health, including social outings with friends, holiday gatherings, attending personal healthcare appointments, etc.
Respite care is available through a wide range of channels:
- Other family members
- Friends
- Home care agencies
Initially, family members and friends may be ideal respite care providers. However, you’ll eventually require more regularly scheduled support from experienced and trained caregivers provided by a home care agency.
Let Families Choice Support Your Ability to Care for Parents at Home
Families Choice Home Care is here to support you as you create a plan for taking care of elderly parents at home. Please get in touch with us to request an assessment so we can learn more about your situation, discuss our services, and empower you as you honor your parent’s quality of life as they age.
Click below to learn more about why in-home care is essential for a parent with dementia.
