Your Proactive Caregiver Advocate: Dr. Cynthia Speaks!
Deciding to move your elderly parent from their home takes time!
If we keep breathing, we will get older. As a baby-boomer, I am seeing the writing on the wall. My vision is changing; my knees hurt. Picking things off the floor without tumbling over is always a thought, or not remembering my last thought, or what I walked into the kitchen to get…Lord help!
Our aging parents have already experienced some of the aforementioned truths. Needing support and in some respects, care is difficult if you are in different locations. Short term fixes are just that… short term! Now may be a good time to have the conversation about moving your elderly parents in with you. Remember, they took care of us when we were in need. Paying it forward is always the right approach. The process of moving mother into our home took time. It started with her visiting us. My mother had a basement in her home in Ohio and climbing the steps was a safety hazard. She saw the washer, and dryer was on the same floor as a plus, and she saw she did not have to walk upstairs to get in the front doors. Mommy had bad knees, and they were replaced after she moved to Texas. Thank you Dr. Siff!
No one will ever take care of your loved one like you will. Having that familiar and loving hand to hold is so reassuring to an elderly person. I have been so saddened to see the many seniors in nursing homes, unable to see and touch their family members. For me, nursing homes was never a discussion for my mother. I quit my job to take care of her. There are challenges I share in my book: From The Lens of Daughter, Nurse, and Caregiver: A Journey of Duty and Honor.
If your elderly parents are still living in their own home alone, unattended safeguards are temporary and concerning. Consider safeguards that are lasting. Consider these elements: Is the home one story or two? Is the use of walking aids necessary? Are their intermittent neighbors checking in on the senior? Do they check in at 11: 00 am? Do they check in at 9:00 pm? Once the need arises that a check-in system is necessary, the conversation should begin about the best and safest option for your elderly loved one? Give your loved one time to process their possible new norm. Remember… moving your elderly parent from their home takes time.
