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Stages of Senior Care
By Sailynn Doyle
With more than 78 million Baby Boomers on the verge of retirement, America is facing monumental social and economic challenges in the ways in which we care for our seniors. With healthcare concerns at the forefront, and with time and money management a major factor for American families in the 21st century, how adult children and seniors can best prepare and plan for their futures have evolved into a complex process that often involves misinformation and injects unwanted stress into our most important relationships.
To ease this tension and give much needed guidance to seniors and their adult children alike, Home Instead Senior Care founders Lori and Paul Hogan have taken their experiences as both family caregivers and senior care professionals and written Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions.
This book serves as a comprehensive guide for the ever-expanding world of senior care, breaking down the process by addressing the shared concerns of seniors and their family members. The following tens tips are an example of the information included in the book:
Planning for Your Parent’s Senior Care – Ten Ways to Begin
1. Discuss your parent’s wishes. You’ll need to know what your loved ones want before beginning the planning process.
2. Seek out local sources for information. Area Agencies on Aging and your parents’ doctors or a geriatric care manager are good places to start.
3. Help your parents assess their health. You can tell a lot about your loved ones’ future needs by determining where they are today physically, emotionally and mentally. Seek an assessment.
4. Include your siblings. To maintain family harmony, make sure that siblings and other important family members or friends are included. It will help alleviate stress for you and your senior loved ones.
5. Review the options. When you have some ideas about future care needs and options, begin by putting a plan in place. You may have to include multiple options depending on how circumstances in your loved one’s life could unfold.
6. Think about the continuum of care. Aging is a gradual process. Consider the types of care your loved ones need now and in the future.
7. Don’t forget financing. More than half of adult children wrongfully believe that Social Security and Medicare will pay for senior care. Thirty-five percent believe their parent’s private pension or retirement plan will pay.
8. Help your parents adapt their environment. Your parents will likely want to remain at home as long as possible. Make sure that their environment is safe and comfortable and allows them the flexibility to age in place.
9. Prepare for the inevitable. People are living healthier and longer lives more then ever. But it’s important that everyone, especially older loved ones, have a Will and make end-of-life decisions in advance.
10. Make sure you have support. Caregiver stress is a liability. If you need support, ask for it.
To obtain a copy of the book, visit your local bookstore or Amazon.com. The North Dartmouth office has 5 free books to give away first come, first serve by calling 508.984.7900 and mentioning this article. All proceeds from book sales are donated to the Home Instead Senior Care Foundation.
Sailynn Doyle
At Home Instead Senior Care, we customize our services to fit your needs. We provide non-medical care to seniors and their families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Services such as companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, shopping, errands, incidental transportation and personal care are just some of the most popular. All of our CAREGivers are thoroughly screened - criminal background check, driving record check, social security trace, sex offender list, and six references. We are available for free consultations 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Call 508.984.7900 or visit www.HomeInstead.com/673 for more information.
Sailynn Doyle is the owner of Home Instead Senior Care in North Dartmouth, located at 634 State Road (Route 6), Unit A1. The North Dartmouth office serves all of Southeastern Massachusetts. They are available for free consultations 24/7. Please call 508.984.7900 or visit www.homeinstead.com/673 for more information. Each office is an independently owned and operated franchise of Home Instead, Inc., the world's largest provider of non-medical in-home care services for seniors.
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