Three Ways to Plan for the Unexpected Aspects of Aging

Everyone hopes their parents will age gracefully and without difficulty. Life doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes aging has unexpected situations that change plans. Developing dementia, being diagnosed with cancer, or having a stroke are just a few of the unexpected events that make aging at home a little harder to manage without help. How do you plan for unexpected events? 
 
Have Adjustable Care Plans in Place

Home Care Glenwood, MN: Unexpected Aspects of Aging

 
Sit down and come up with a care plan that helps your parents if they develop a chronic health condition or experience an emergency event like a broken bone. Draft different plans that could be used in temporary or permanent situations. 
 
For example, imagine that your mom broke her hip and needs help at home for a few months. Are family members who live close by able to help her with all of her needs? She would need people to drive her to therapy sessions or arrange in-home therapy. She’d need someone to clean, make her bed, change sheets, and do the laundry. 
 
She may need help getting into and out of the shower. She might need someone to join her on walks, cook her meals, and take her dog outside. If you have to work, hired caregivers may be the only way to make sure she has all of the care she needs until she’s recovered. 
 
If she’s diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, her needs will change as the disease progresses. She will eventually need around-the-clock care, and that can be too much for family members to manage when they have full-time jobs, children, and homes of their own. 
 
Get Legal Documents in Place 
 
Make sure your mom has legal protections in place. If she has a stroke and can’t speak or communicate, who would she want to make decisions for her? 
 
Would she want doctors to decide what care she gets or would she want you making her decisions? This includes decisions like feeding tubes and life support. She needs to name you as her agent on a power of attorney for medical care. She also needs to draw up a list of where she stands different treatment options. 
 
Who would she want to make decisions in terms of financial matters? A financial power of attorney is also important. 
 
Hire Home Care Services 
 
Arrange home care services to set up caregivers to help out. You might have a few hours a week where you can help, but you can’t let your parents’ care overwhelm you. You still need to think of your job, your children, your own household chores, and your social life. Home care services enable you to do that without leaving your parents alone. 
 
How do you arrange home care services? Get a list of the daily tasks your parents need help with. Come up with a list of questions your parents and other family members have. Once you have those in hand, call a home care agency and start discussing the rates and services. 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering Home Care in Glenwood, MN please contact the caring staff at Alternative Senior Care today. Providing Home Care in Central Minnesota and Surrounding Communities. Call us Today (320) 352-3350