Elderly Home Care

Bringing in outside help is frequently not a choice that many elderly are agreeable to, in
spite of the obvious need. They often say help is not needed and they are very capable
of managing on their own.

It may be they think any outside assistance is a threat to their independence or an
invasion of their privacy. When your parents are both living in their own home together,
direct your attention to the parent who is less in need. For example, if your Father needs
the most assistance and the burden falls often on your Mother – approach him by
suggesting it would certainly be helpful to Mother if she had some assistance with
cleaning, cooking, etc thereby freeing her to be available for him.

Hiring somebody to help with household chores is not going to invade their privacy and
may be less threatening to their independence than if you started right out hiring
somebody to help with personal care. If you place the emphasis on getting help with
housework or suggest help with grocery shopping, driving to doctor appointments and
other errands if driving is no longer an option, they may be more receptive. Your hope is
that they will see the value in having assistance and develop a trusting relationship with
their caregiver. If they can develop that trust then down the road they are more likely to
accept assistance with their personal care when it is needed.

Another approach when your parents are living alone and you are responsible for
overseeing their living situation is to focus the attention on you needing the help and not
them. My parents will practically bend over backwards to make life easier for any of us
kids – but won’t consider the help for themselves. Suggest that bringing in a
housekeeper would ease your worry about managing daily cleaning, shopping, meals,
and laundry. After being taken by ambulance to the hospital with chest pains, etc my
Mother is more aware of her vulnerability and her need for some type of home care. As
the closest adult child I can totally relate to sharing the burden. If my parents had
somebody just for a couple of hours a day it would ease my mind and heart
tremendously.

Take stock of what your parent’s needs are and how best to meet those needs while
allowing them as much independence as possible. One of the most difficult times of our
lives as adult children will be helping our parents as they experience the decline of
social interaction, health and independence. Convincing them to accept outside help
and successfully implementing that help will go a long way toward continuing the loving
relationship of parent and adult child.

Joanne Robbins has published several articles on a variety of topics. Dealing with our
parents as adult children is an extremely important topic and you can find more My
Elderly Parent information at http://boomer-gear.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joanne_Robbins

My Elderly Parents: In Home Care
By Joanne Robbins

If we ask our elderly parents about
their preferences for living
arrangements, it comes as no
surprise that many would like to
remain in their own homes. Actually
a high percentage of the elderly
population does live in their own
homes until it is no longer an
alternative.

If this is the case with your parents,
then you may be faced with how to
go about making this a viable option
especially if there are no family
members with the time, distance or
resources to act as caregiver.