The Toughest Of The Tough: How To Figure Out What To Do With Aging Parents

The toughest decision that many people have to make is how to deal with their parents aging. Unfortunately not everyone ages equally with some people in their 80’s being vibrant while some in their 60’s that need a lot of assistance. A lot of this has to do with genetics as different families seem to age in different ways. The other factor that impacts this is the lifestyle being lived as people that drink and smoke heavily could endure far more health problems. The best thing that a family can do is to sit down with everyone to discuss options rather than making a rash decision without any other input.

55 Plus Community

There are more and more 55 plus communities that spring up in locations like Florida that have a plethora of people in the older population. The best thing about these communities is that of the social aspect as there activities to the residents in the community. Dealing with younger people that play loud music is not an issue here as younger people are not allowed to live in these communities. One of the most important things for an aging person is that of staying active and keeping their brain health high. Looking into the activities offered is important as a community that has something like a putting green or weekly card games can entice even the most unsocial people to participate.

Assisted Living Facility

Assisted living facilities are not nursing homes as will be discussed below. For those people that can move around and can care for themselves with supervision then an ALF is for them. People can take care of themselves by showering while things like meals will be provided. These facilities try to keep their residents active as it is far easier to deal with happy residents than bored and angry ones. When pitching this to a parent list out all of the fun things the facility offers as well as the peace of mind the family will have if they go there.

Nursing Home

A nursing home is far different than an assisted living facility as they are more expensive. The quality of care and constant supervision is done in these types of facilities. One thing a family needs to watch out for when putting a parent in a nursing home is making sure they are treated appropriately. If anyone thinks there is mistreatment or malpractice contacting a great law firm like Keithwilliamslawgroup.com needs to be done. Nobody wants a family member to endure abuse of any kind especially from the people that are trusted to take care of them. Do thorough research on each facility as some have far more issues than others. Online reviews can really clarify whether a nursing home is good to their residents or not.

Living With Family

Living with family is the top option for many aging parents but not all families have the space or finances to do this. A parent can be of great help around the house and with babysitting so keep this in mind when considering monthly budget. The one issue is that some parents might feel like they are intruding while others might be a nightmare to live with. Discussing who will have their parent living with them is imperative as putting this on a member of the family is not fair.

Aging parents need to be taken care of so take the above into consideration. The peace of mind knowing that your parent will be safe is worth its weight in gold. Parents deserve the best so make sure they get it!

Melissa Thompson writes about a wide range of topics, revealing interesting things we didn’t know before. She is a freelance USA Today producer, and a Technorati contributor.