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Deciding When Your Aging Parent Needs Help At Home

Aging hopefully will be a process that involves new adventures, continued learning, and quality time with family and friends. However, certain situations may require some assistance for that to safely occur.

One of the most difficult decisions can involve whether an aging parent can continue to live in their home. This is an extremely emotional situation and must be treated with great amounts of compassion and love. You can do some type of situational analysis by asking yourself some very important questions.

How well would your aging parent handle an emergency? Would they be able, without any assistance, to get out the door safely and in a timely manner?

How much assistance does your parent need with activities of daily living? These activities include bathing, dressing, and preparing healthy and appropriate meals.

Ask how often in the last several months has your parent socialized? Did your parent attend church, go shopping, have dinner with a friend, go to the movies? Isolation and possible depression are something to be very aware of.

Try to determine how clearly your parent is thinking. Is your parent aware of person, place and time? Is your parent overly forgetful, disoriented or often confused? Is your parent able to properly take medication and keep appointments, such as dental and medical appointments?

Try to act before a crisis occurs.

Look at your parent’s living situation. Does your parent need to make some changes to make their house or apartment safer? Some proper modifications could include adding grab bars in bathrooms, plug in nightlights and adding brighter lighting, removing potential trip hazards such as area rugs and clutter, adding deadbolts to doors leading to stairways, removing nobs from the stove, if necessary.

You may want to consider hiring a caretaker to assist with cooking, bathing or other activities of daily living. Be certain they are properly licensed, insured and bonded, and ask for and check references.

Also, do not forget to obtain an expert opinion. Geriatric care managers or Gerontologists can often provide a helpful independent assessment and provide good objective advice and potential resources for assistance.

Always treat your aging parent with love and respect. Remember all life is precious and must be respected and treated with dignity.

Aging has challenges. Being sensitive to your parent’s changing needs will assist you and your parent to face this process in a positive and constructive manner.

Please contact Ann Marie Gilden, Esquire of Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. to assist you in your Guardianship and Probate Administration matters at (407) 732-7600, and visit my website at www.AnnMarieGildenLaw.com.

This information is provided only as educational materials, and does not constitute the providing of legal advice, and does not create any attorney client relationship.