Caring for an aging parent or elderly spouse can be very challenging – especially if you are suddenly faced with a crisis.
Perhaps your aging mother has had a stroke, is in the hospital’s intensive care unit, and will need long term care for the rest of her life. Or, your father has had a series of unsettling mishaps that make you wonder if he can continue living on his own. Maybe your elderly spouse has wandered off and gotten lost several times. Or a long-time friend has lost a lot of weight and rarely leaves home.
Whatever the situation, you have become responsible for caring for your elderly loved one. You are not sure of your next step, or even the first step.
Whether you are in the middle of a crisis and decisions have to be made quickly, or planning ahead for an elderly loved one because of unsettling warning signs, AsOurParentsGrowOlder.com can help you find the answers you need. (HelpWithElders.com and Aging Parents.com also offers 2 excellent audio podcasts to help you plan ahead, Talking with Your Parents and That Crisis Phone Call. To listen to either one, simply click on its title.)
What kind of help does your loved one need … long term elder care? Or, help for only a short time to recover after a hospital stay? Are problems undiagnosed but correctable? For example, prescription drugs interactions and side effects, Vitamin B12 deficiency, dehydration and other treatable causes are often mistaken, even by doctors, for Alzheimers and other forms of dementia. According to Consumer Reports on Health, “Any new health problem in an older person should be considered drug induced until proven otherwise.” (To help determine if prescription drugs might be a source of your loved one’s problems, click on Prescription Drugs Interactions.)
If their problems are not correctable, what elder care living arrangements are available for your loved one? What nursing care plans are most appropriate? If they are able to remain in their own home, what kind of elder care services do you arrange? Is assisted living preferred over a nursing home? What challenges does your loved one’s condition pose? What is the best way to access community elder care resources? How will you manage it all – and still maintain a life of your own?
This article will walk you through the first steps of elder care – whether your loved one has Alzheimers Disease or another form of dementia, is recovering from a broken hip, or you are trying to figure out Medicare benefits. It is a primer – a source of both information and comfort. Each elder care situation is unique, of course. Your loved one’s medical history, financial resources, personality, relationships with potential caregivers, proximity to services and other factors all determine the best approach to take.
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