One of the most important decisions you can make as a family caregiver is when it is time to start home care for your aging parent.
Integrating an in-home senior care services provider into their care can make a tremendous difference in their quality of life, support their health and well-being, and ease the stress in your daily life.
You want to make sure you are making the decision that is truly right for your aging parent, which means evaluating their condition and identifying ways they might need support and assistance. It is important to pay attention to their needs, functioning, and symptoms, but evaluating their surroundings can also give you useful insight into issues that could be resolved with the additional help of home care.
Some signs in your senior’s home that might indicate they need home care this summer include:
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- The lawn is not well cared-for, especially if tending to the grass or gardening used to be something they enjoyed.
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- They have not gotten their mail or newspapers.
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- There are scratches, dents, or other damage to their car that might indicate they have gotten into accidents recently.
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- The inside of the home is cluttered, as if they haven’t tidied recently, or are no longer able to identify what is not important, such as not being able to divide needed mail from junk mail.
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- The inside of the home is messy, especially if they have always been a clean person.
- The laundry has built up in the bedroom or laundry room as if they have not been doing their laundry recently.
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- You notice loads of laundry that have been mixed inappropriately.
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- They haven’t taken out the trash recently.
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- If they have pets, they have not been cleaned up after, do not appear to have food or water, or seem to not have what they need.
- The home is hot and humid rather than being a cool, comfortable and safe temperature.
If you’ve noticed your aging parent is exhibiting new challenges, you may be concerned about how you will be able to handle them.
If you are like most family caregivers, you are already exceptionally busy, particularly if you are a part of the sandwich generation and caring for your aging parents as well as your children. The thought of increasing your care efforts can seem intimidating, but home care can help.
An in-home senior care services provider can step in to fill care gaps such as those created if your schedule becomes too busy. They can also manage care tasks that are too difficult for you based on your own challenges and limitations, or that are potentially sensitive and that your senior or you are uncomfortable with you handling.
Not only does this ensure your parent is getting all of the support and assistance they need, but can also reduce stress, and Foster a closer and more meaningful parent-child relationship while improving the benefits of your parents care.