4 Things to Consider as Parents Age
As parents age into their 70’s and 80’s, they begin to need care in different ways. Working with parents during their transition to old age can be difficult, and considering their needs, facilities, and finances will put you in a good position for the years to come.
Clarify Needs
To clarify the right path of care, each individual parent’s needs should be considered. Do they have medical needs which can be solved by a weekly nurse visit? Is there daily care needed to sustain their quality of life? Perhaps hiring services to assist with the lawn and housekeeping is enough to allow your parents to live independently at this stage. Begin by assessing needs and go from there.
Include Your Parent
It’s important to include your parent in decisions about their care as often as you can. Creating a partnership in this way will help to keep trust strong, allowing you to work together to solve issues as opposed to fighting through the changes ahead in the coming years.
Assess Care Facilities
If your parents have reached the stage where they need personalized care more often than not, it may be time to look into assisted living Ballwin care. There are a variety of options available, from very hands-off to much more hands-on care.
Understand Finances
Finally, it’s important to work with your parents to understand their financial situation and make a plan for the coming years. What assets do they have? How will those assets sustain them as their needs become greater? Answering all of these questions upfront is a good place to start so that you can be sure that your parents are on solid financial ground moving forward.
Overall, the transition to parent caretaker is difficult, no matter how well prepared one might be. Stay in partnership with your parents to determine the best choices for them.