As you get older, your parents are going to become more dependent on you for support. By the time your parents reach sixty or seventy, you’ll need to ask yourself important questions about what they need and whether they are vulnerable to various issues. You might even need to think about whether they can continue to safely live in the comfort of their own home. Be aware that you might need to think about this before they consider the possibility themselves. So, let’s break this down and look at some of the alternatives as well as what it will take for your parents to be able to continue living in their own home.
The Risks Of Living At Home
The risks of letting your parents continue to live in their forever home is that it might not be suitable for their needs anymore. Take the stairs as an example. When you’re younger, stairs are just an easy obstacle. As you get older, stairs present a tripping hazard and will be painful on the hips as well as other areas of your body.
The home could also be difficult to maintain and attempts to keep it in the right condition could also lead to an injury.
It’s also possible that your parents are experiencing issues with their mental health. Dementia is alarmingly common among people over the age of sixty-five. Symptoms can include lapses in memory, confusion and changes to mood or behavior. Even in the early stages, dementia can make it difficult for someone to live safely independent of other people.
Helping Your Parents Continue To Live At Home
There are steps that you can take to help ensure your parents are able to continue living in the comfort of their home. First, you should think about changing the home to ensure it’s more safe for them. In terms of the hazards, we have already discussed, you can think about installing a stairlift. They may resent you for this at first but they’ll soon realize how beneficial an option like this is for them.
You might also want to consider providing them with the right equipment that they need to keep up their independence. For instance, if they are having issues with mobility, then you might want to get them a powered wheelchair to move more easily around the home. The best power wheelchairs comes with a variety of features that could help ensure that your elderly parent gets the best quality of life.
You might also want to make the home easier to maintain and manage. For instance, you could think about paying to have the grass replaced with Astro-turf. This will stay green all through the year without your elderly parent ever needing to lift a finger.
The Alternatives
If your parents can no longer safely live at home, then you should think about the alternatives. If your parents need medical attention due to a condition then a nursing home could be the right decision. While live-in care is an option, professionals will often be able to provide better support in the right environment. Particularly, if medical issues are impacting your parent’s cognitive abilities.
If they are still in fantastic health and great shape but are struggling with some tasks that require independence, a retirement home or a village could be the right choice. The big benefit of the former is that they will be in a controlled environment, surrounded by people their own age. This will make it easier for them to socialize and engage with other people. Socialization is critical to ensure your parent’s cognitive skills remain and makes having an elderly parent living in their own home much easier.
Parents Living With You
The final option would be to move your parents in with you. This does provide the benefit of being around family. However, you do need to understand that you might be, at least partially, required to take on the role of a carer. This is always going to shift the dynamic that you have with your parents overall. It’s also going to eat into your lifestyle and impact the rest of your family too.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key factors that you should consider when deciding whether your elderly parents or parents can continue to live in the comfort of their own home. Do be aware that moving them to a care facility or a requirement village could provide a better quality of life overall. However, this is always going to be a personal decision. You need to think carefully about the options before committing to any choice.
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Afton Jackson
Going to the home of your elderly relative to make it safer for an elder person to live in is something we might need to do. Before we get an assistant for my father, changing things like stairs and door handles to make it easier for them would really make a huge impact. I’ll take your advice and stop by that house first so we can make those changes then hire an in-home care assistant for my father.