There is nothing easy about assisting your aging parents in growing old or convincing them to accept in-home care. As your parents’ age, your roles become reversed as you become the parent and the guiding force in their lives. This is a scary transition for your parent as well as yourself. An in-home health aide and be a great bridge to eventual long-term care in a facility.
The best way to get your aging parents to understand how valuable home care solutions can be is to show them the advantages and discuss their concerns.
- Increased Time At Home
Falls are the leading fatal injury among seniors which in turn results in loss of independence and admission into long-term skilled care facilities. Incorporating a home aide into the daily routines can reduce the risk of falls by way of helping with bed transfers, toileting, bathing and light housekeeping. Rather than your parent having to go to an assisted living or skilled nursing facility, he or she can remain in their home for a longer period of time.
- Help Their Spouse By Relieving The Burden
If both parents are living together suggest that accepting in-home care would benefit the spouse. Often we are willing to do for our spouse what we would refuse for ourselves. In reality, both parents will benefit from having home care.
- Ease The Transition
Often we hear aging parents are concerned about a “stranger” providing intimate home care. You can suggest a care solution in which the care provider does more to help with noninvasive services like transportation, housekeeping, grocery shopping and meal prep. The idea is that once the caregiver is there and your parent becomes accustomed to the person, your parent may allow that person to help with more things as the need arises.
Be aware that there is a high turnover in care providers who work as freelance agents or at large home care mills. Just because a home care organization is large do not assume the turnover is low, often this is the opposite. Ask the agency you are researching about their employees and the turnover rate.
- Lower Care Cost
Skilled nursing facilities are expensive and often require in-depth financial planning to receive care. A home health aide that visits a few times a week is a fraction of the cost of long-term care. As stated before home care can increase the time for your loved one to remain semi-independent at home thus realizing a huge cost saving to their care.
Home care doesn’t need to be scheduled seven days a week unless it is necessary. Most home care organizations can set up a schedule for as little as two days a week for two hours per visit making it very affordable.
- You Need Help!
Focus the need on you, not them. Let him or her know that you are overwhelmed with your responsibilities and feel guilty that you cannot always provide the care you know your parent needs. Explain that it makes you feel better to have a home care solution in place for when you cannot be available. Rather than making your aging parent feel like he or she is losing independence, present it as you need the help.
- Doctor’s Orders
Discuss with your parent’s physician or a geriatric care manager your concerns. If the doctor agrees with you, he or she may be willing to tell your parent that it is now necessary to have home care assistance. The professional opinion by a third party like a trusted doctor goes a long way in convincing them they need home care.
What Are The Next Steps?
Determine your budget and what your needs are. Research local home care companies and contact them for more information. Home care companies will send an advisor out to your parent’s house at no charge to assess the situation, give you their recommendations and schedule the care you need.
