Parents spend their lives taking care of us, and as they grow older, we are presented with the privilege of taking care of them during their golden years. Although seeing the people you love and adore lose their independence can be quite heartbreaking, being able to show up for them when they need you the most can be a way to show gratitude and make their transition into old age easier. There are a number of options available that will suit your elderly parents’ depending on their needs.
Here are some guidelines you can follow to make relocating your elderly parents as smooth of a transition as possible.
1. Have a family meeting
Before moving, make sure you have a family meeting with all the adults in your family. Speak to your parents and keep communication lines open so that everyone is on the same page about what’s happening. This will also help a great deal with creating a strong support system. Speaking to children after initial conversations have occurred is also important, as everyone in the family should be aware of what’s happening.
In the family meeting, be sure to discuss who will be responsible for the caretaking of your parents, where they will live, the amount of money required, whether you need professional caretaking or not, and whether the area they’re relocating to is close to a medical centre such as a clinic or a hospital.
2. Share the responsibility
It’s important to be realistic about how much you can help with caretaking. If other members of your family, perhaps your siblings, can help with looking after your parents, take them up on the offer and share the responsibility as this can often be extremely challenging to deal with on your own.
By sharing the responsibility, you can help your parents transition into their golden years with ease. After all, humans thrive in community, and helping each other when needed is a huge part of it.
3. Reconsider your finances
Another important aspect of looking after your parents is being able to analyse your finances. Be sure to accommodate them in your monthly budget. This may mean moving a couple of expenses around so that you can cover their living costs.
4. Consider getting professional assistance
Getting a professional caretaker to help out in the home is a great option to consider if you can afford it. You can also consider relocating your elderly parent to a care home or a retirement home where they can get around-the-clock treatment and supervision from people who are trained to deal with elderly people with physical and mental degenerative ailments.
There are also governmental care homes that you can look into if your elderly parent is sick and you are not able to look after them yourself. You’ll be able to have peace of mind that your loved one is in good hands, while being able to check-in and visit regularly.
5. Make sure your home is elderly-friendly
Should you be unable to pay for a retirement home or get personal assistance, all hope is not lost. As long as you have a great support network, be it family or friends, you can relocate your elderly parent and take care of them in your own home. This means ensuring that your home is elderly-friendly.
Making sure your home is elderly-friendly includes adding wheelchair ramps if necessary, adding non-slip strips in the bathroom, adding a raised toilet, making sure there’s no clutter on the floor (that means your children can’t leave toys lying around), adding a stairlift to help with moving up and down levels, and many more. This will help your elderly parent adjust to the new home and also prevent accidents from occurring.
6. Create a support network for your elderly parent and the rest of the family
Relocating your elderly parent means they won’t be in the vicinity of their friends and close-knit community anymore. Elderly people value their relationships and humans are social creatures, so it’s important that when they are relocated, they are socially connected with other people.
Creating a support network for your parent is important to keep their spirits up and creating a support network for yourself will also help greatly with navigating this new and challenging phase of life.
Using the tips above, you can make the best possible decisions for your aging parents to ensure that they are well taken care of.
