Watching our parents grow old is one of the toughest parts of getting older ourselves. They might become less independent and need more help doing basic activities. You might start to worry about leaving them alone in their home. Here are some tips for getting through this phase of life with love and compassion.
- Consider Their Needs
It’s important to pay close attention when you’re around your aging parents to decide what they really need help with. Are they still able to do basic tasks like bathing themselves, cooking, and cleaning their home? Or are they going hungry and letting things go because they’re having a hard time getting around?
This is an important step because your parent may need various levels of help depending on their issues. Transitioning to a nursing home might be necessary, but they may also be just fine with a consumer-directed personal assistant Brooklyn NY.
- Take Preference Into Account
While your parent may need extra help, they’ll appreciate it if you’re listening to their personal preferences as well as considering their needs. For instance, they might prefer making alterations to their home to make it more aging-friendly rather than moving to a facility
. Changes like assistance bars in the bathrooms, moving everything to one floor of the house, and widening doorframes to accommodate wheelchairs can all make a huge difference in the independence of an aging person.
- Know Your Budget
Finally, you’ll have to weigh your options and decide whether or not the preferred options are affordable. Whether you’re helping to pay for these changes or your parents are handling it themselves, it’s important to choose something that they can afford and won’t cause them additional stress.
This can be a difficult step for any child to take, so give yourself plenty of grace as you help your aging parent transition to the next phase of life.
