How to Manage Elderly Parents

Help your parents enjoy their life after retirement!

Your parents bathed you, changed your stinky diapers and worked hard to put food into your mouth. Additionally your parents offered you wisdom, warnings and advice on various subjects throughout your childhood and adulthood. Eventually it becomes your turn to return the favor by managing most aspects of your elderly parents' lives. Whether you decide to keep your parents at home or place them in a nursing home, your care and management are necessary in making doctor's appointments, paying bills, taking medications, planning treatments and offering general care such as cleaning the house, cooking meals and aiding in bathing.

Instructions

1. Talk to your parents about their current health situations and decide on a course of action for yourself and your parents. Some parents may willingly want to move into your home with you, so that you can provide constant care, while other parents may not need constant care or do not wish to leave their own homes. Discussing such matters help you deal with the situation and find appropriate care services as needed. Additionally, you should discuss these matters with other siblings willing to assist in the process.

2. Hire a caregiver to monitor and assist your parents when you cannot. You may need full time caregivers, several caregivers, live-in caregivers or you may only need a caregiver occasionally when you have to abandon your care to deal with your own business and personal life matters.

3. Attend your parents' doctor visits. Sometimes elderly parents avoid telling their children the full story concerning a diagnosis and treatment. While those parents may do this to avoid placing stress on their children or to avoid embarrassment to either party, failing to disclose may worsen health problems, so attending the visits allows you to know exactly what kind of care your parents need and how to offer that care. Help your parents schedule doctor visits you can attend, or shape your work schedule around your parents' appointments.

4. Run errands for your parents, or drive them when they take care of any business matters. Whether going grocery shopping or dropping a vehicle off for maintenance, doing such tasks for or with your parents avoids accidents and prevents people from scamming your parents out of money.

5. Assist your parents with daily activities for which they need assistance. You may have to help your parents move from the bedroom to the bathroom, collect their mail and newspaper, fix meals, perform cleaning duties around the house and help your parents take baths or showers. If you cannot find the time for these services, hire someone who can to work as necessary.

6. Become your parents' power of attorney. Visit a lawyer to fill out the paperwork to take control of your parents' bank accounts and other assets; this allows you to make sure your parents pay bills on time and avoid unnecessary expenses. Once you officially become your parents' power of attorney, you can pay bills and write checks for them and sign your own name to the check.

References

• Clear Point Credit Counseling Solutions: Managing Finances with Aging Parents
• Oregon State University: Coping with Caregiving-How to Manage Stress When Caring for Older Relatives

Resources

• Agingcare.com: What to Do if Your Aging Parent Refuses to Go to the Doctor