Responsibility & Care Needs of Elderly in a Home
Many elderly citizens live by themselves in assisted living facilities or with their families. A September 27, 2007, USA Today article cited U.S. Census data indicating that only 7.4% of Americans over the age of 74 were living in nursing homes. Improving health and medical advancements are helping Americans live longer and more safely, but many require assistance due to declining mental and physical health. Caregivers may have to provide financial, medical, legal and quality of life support to aging family members.
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Medical Needs
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The range of conditions many senior citizens are at risk of developing range from osteoporosis (thinning bones) and heart and lung and eye problems to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease. Loss of independence due to infirmity can cause depression and anger due to limited mobility, physical discomfort and loss of self-reliance.
Caregivers should familiarize themselves with medications the family member is taking and may need to help coordinate medical care if a relative is seeing multiple providers for various conditions. They should also learn what types of health insurance their relatives are financially eligible for and are receiving and what services these providers cover. Medicare does not cover long-term care costs, for example, and only low-income people qualify for Medicaid, the eligibility rules for which vary by state. Federal employees, those with annuities and the families of these groups can qualify for private long-term care insurance, the U.S. State Department explains in employee support information published on its website.
Financial Issues
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Those who care for elderly relatives who are suffering from health problems should be informed about what types of savings their relatives have and how secure they are. They should discuss with those they're caring for how these funds can be accessed to provide care if the aging relative is unable to do so or develops age-related mental instability. Caregivers should also know where their elderly relatives' financial documents are kept.
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Legal Details
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One or more relatives should be assigned power of attorney, should it be necessary for a someone to represent the elderly relative in legal matters. There is also a health care power of attorney designation, which assigns others decision-making ability over medical treatments. Living wills outline the elderly relatives' choices about how much life-saving medical intervention they desire if they are terminally ill, the Senior Living Foundation reports.
Safety Considerations
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Whether (s)he is living alone or with relatives, it may be necessary to retrofit or otherwise alter the home environment to protect an aging relative. Such steps can range from carpeting hard floors to reduce the risk of injury from falls, and installing door handles that are easy to manipulate to installing wheelchair ramps and walk-in bathtubs, the Elder Care Locator website explains. (This site contains listings of companies that arrange for home visits by health care providers to asses and provide routine support to home-based senior citizens.)
In some cases, it may be necessary to prevent older people with poor eyesight from driving and they may need help doing simple chores such as going shopping, keeping doctors' appointments and house-cleaning or self care. Those who live alone may need a device they can activate easily to seek emergency response if they injure themselves or suddenly become ill.
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- Photo Credit portrait of an old woman image by studio vision1 from Fotolia.com
