Discussing senior care goals is important for long-term care planning.
Being together over the holidays is a fantastic time to get caught up and an ideal time to have discussions about long-term care planning with elderly parents. Having an open and honest discussion around planning senior care, including considering home modifications and managing finances, is important to help meet the care goals of loved ones.
Anthem Home Care, a trusted provider of home care services, has put together some important questions for you to cover during your conversation:
- Would you like to continue to live at home as you grow older, or consider a move elsewhere? The majority of seniors desire to remain at home throughout aging over a move to an assisted living facility or a nursing home, or moving in with adult children. If this is the situation with your parents, consider any changes that need to take place in order for that desire to become a reality: home modifications and the general layout of the home, along with a strategy for support if a chronic illness, disability, or simply the difficulties of aging make it tough to remain safe and independent.
- What community services, amenities, and organizations would you like to continue to access? Obviously, your parents will need to be able to get food as well as other essential supplies and keep up with medical appointments and procedures, but identify what else is likely to be important to them as they get older, such as going to religious services, nail and/or hair salon appointments, sporting events, visits with friends and neighbors, etc. How will they carry on with these activities and tasks if they become unable to drive?
- How will the cost for any long-term care needs be covered? Financial circumstances tend to be a sensitive topic to broach with your aging parents; nonetheless, it’s imperative to make sure that a strategy is in place to meet future needs. If this hasn’t been done already, now is the ideal time to be sure that your parents have specified a power of attorney and met with a financial planner who can review investments, savings, retirement funds, insurance, estate planning, etc. and develop a strategy to cover any prospective expenses connected to aging care.
- Who is in your network of support? It is a wise idea to come up with a list of your parents’ close friends, neighbors, and other family members who will be open to providing assistance in the event of an unexpected emergency or just as your parents’ abilities change through aging. Prioritize the list in the order your parents prefer them to be contacted if a need occurs, and then share the list with anyone who may have the need to reach out to them (including those on the list themselves).
At Anthem Home Care, we work with seniors and their loved ones as they begin planning senior care. Because our home care services are highly personalized, we can begin providing assistance in just a couple of areas, for only several hours each week, such as help with meals, housekeeping, and running errands, and you can add in additional support over time as needed.
Contact our aging care experts at 361-643-2323 for the trusted support your senior parents need to remain safe, comfortable, and thriving at home for a lifetime. We are always available to answer any questions you may have about our top-rated senior care in Rockport and the surrounding areas, and to schedule a free in-home assessment to share more about how we can help older adults meet their senior care goals.