Planning for where the elderly will age for their remaining years is one of the tough decisions caregivers have to make. For some, there will only be one final home in later age. Others may transition through the levels of senior care options as their needs increase.
Today's guest author discusses a few things to consider before you help your elderly loved one make a decision.
Is Keeping Our Elders at Home the Best Decision in Their Interest?
It's all too natural for the seniors to want to stay home when they grow older, but it is our duty to take a step back and rationalize the bigger picture so that we can make a well-informed decision, keeping their best interests in mind.
More often than not, decisions to transfer seniors to nursing homes or care facilities are frantically made after facing a sudden loss or crisis. This makes the arrangement all the more painful for them and the entire family.
Every home is unique, and there are several factors that contribute to the best choice in such a situation. Here is a list of things you should evaluate before deciding to shift your seniors to a nursing home:
1. Location and Accessibility
Is your home located in a suburban or rural area? Is public transport readily available? How far is the nearest shopping mall or medical facility from your home? How convenient is it to set up a doctor’s appointment? These are the questions that you should answer to reach a sound conclusion.
2. Availability of Support
Do you have relatives or friends near your locality? If yes, then how involved are they with your family? Can you count on them in times of immediate crisis? What is your proximity to community services and hospitals? These questions will point you in the right direction, when it comes to measuring the availability of support, which is often overlooked.
3. Social Interaction
Are your elders dependent on you to take them out of the house? If so, consider the value of social interaction among senior citizens and ask yourself:
- Do you have a 9-to-5 job that requires you to leave your loved ones in an isolated state the entire day?
- Do your elders visit old friends and relatives once in a while?
Make sure that the seniors get their share of socializing, since losing such influences can result in depression, which is the foundation of Parkinson’s Disease.
4. Medical Conditions
If your loved ones have a serious medical condition that is apt to become aggravated in the future, it is best to plan ahead.
- How do you plan on handling an emergency in the dead of night?
- What can you do to keep the situation in control during the emergency?
- What are the common complications to the problem and how do you avoid them?
- You need to answer these questions right now, in order to avoid a panic attack during a crisis.
5. Monetary Conditions
Plan your budget and try to anticipate the important expenses that are likely to be incurred in the future. Make an estimate based on the scale of your current expenses. This will help you weigh the pros and cons of your current spending habits. Assisted living can be gruesomely expensive! In-home-care budget plans can help you wade through rough tides.
We hope that by answering these questions you are able to plan ahead of time. This will ensure that the decision you make today is aimed at the future happiness and well-being of your loved ones.
Already Home Care is dedicated to providing professional, comprehensive, and quality care to seniors. The company excels in providing custom-tailored homecare service to families to fit their unique situations. They offer services like personal care, companion care, incontinence care, and Alzheimer’s care for seniors so that they may continue to live independently at home.
To get in touch with them, you can either use the Contact us page, or follow them on their official Facebook and Twitter profiles.
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