It can be hard to accept the fact that one or both of your parents may need assisted living. You’ve perhaps always seen your parents living independently, so the homework and sweat effort that accompanies a move to assisted living can be intimidating. However, despite the initial hesitation or hard work involved, assisted living often can provide a relief for caregivers, as you know your mom or dad is in good hands, with someone who can monitor him or her regularly.
Here are five signs that your parent should perhaps move to assisted living:
- There have been recent falls or accidents. Although accidents happen, the chances of them happening again increase as our family members get older, according to Caring.com.
- Your mom or dad struggles more with activities of daily living. These can include cooking, washing clothes, managing medications, and getting dressed. Although these sometimes can be helped by hiring caregivers or home care workers, a parent struggling with several of these activities may do better in assisted living.
- You worry about safety issues related to your parent’s forgetfulness. For instance, do you think your mom or dad may leave on the stove range after cooking? Or that they’ll turn the oven on and then leave the house? How about getting hurt while prepping meals? This could be a sign that a more controlled living environment is better for him or her.
- Recovery from an ongoing health condition is not going well, or he or she has a new ongoing health condition. Conditions like pneumonia or bronchitis need to be taken seriously as we get older. If your parent had a slow recovery from one of these conditions—and perhaps hasn’t been able to care for their home or even get out to see a doctor—assisted living could be a good option. The same is true if your parent develops a new chronic and serious health condition that could leave them debilitated, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or diabetes.
- Your parent looks unkempt. Let’s say your mom or dad was always impeccably dressed—and now when you see him or her, they look run down and less cared for. This could be a sign that more hands-on care is needed.
Making the decision to move a parent to assisted living isn’t easy. However, care management specialists like Secure Aging can partner with you to inform you on the care options available and find the right option for mom or dad. Call Secure Aging today at 941-761-9338 to learn more.
Call Secure Aging to Help Your Older Loved One Lead a Better Life
At Secure Aging in Bradenton, we transform the weight of the world into a sigh of relief for our senior clients and their concerned family members. We can help your older loved one not fall prey to the financial scams and help them obtain better care. The mission of Secure Aging is to protect and preserve our client’s independence and dignity through careful and thoughtful financial and care management. As our clients age, it is their desire to remain independent and age with dignity. Our services protect our clients from talented con artists looking to exploit and deplete the financial resources of our vulnerable seniors. Secure Aging helps families in Manatee County and Sarasota County and in and around the communities of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Myakka City, Palmetto, Parrish, and Sarasota. Call us at 941-761-9338, or visit us online at www.secureaging.com.
