There may come a day… you might have seen it coming for a while, or it might hit you out of the blue… when you suddenly realize that your parents are no longer as capable of living independently as they’d always been. This is not easy to digest – the parents that raised you, no longer able to completely look after themselves – is an unsettling realization. More than just a practical consideration, it usually triggers us to consider that our parents will not be here forever… and then as a natural segue, it’s also a reminder of our own mortality. Not easy thoughts – ones we’d usually rather avoid, but at the same time, unavoidable, because the practical implications for daily living and your parents’ safety and well-being are daunting but have to be faced.
Baby boomers, and anyone with aging parents, will most likely sooner or later find themselves needing to confront signs of their parents’ failing independence, resulting from age-related loss of functionality – physical or psychological – and the need to evaluate what to do about it. For many, the thought of an assisted living facility is a last resort, and the possibility of the parent coming to live with them is also only remotely feasible, if at all. And while to a certain point the adult children themselves can provide the extra care and handling their parents will now need… it can be very challenging. The demands of work and career, raising a family, and running a household often leave little extra space to take on more. And it also makes the whole situation of our parents’ new needs harder to look at … the impact it will have on us – a new added dimension of responsibility to weave into our already full lives. This is where a caregiver can compassionately and kindly help alleviate the burden on the adult children and ensure the parent’s safety and well-being, while allowing them to continue living in their own residence with maximum possible independence.
So how do you know when to consider caregiving as an option to helping your parents maintain as much freedom as possible while ensuring they are safe? … (With as much or as little help as that takes)? Here are some signs and clues to problems that could impair someone’s ability to completely manage on their own… and that you should be paying closer attention to how your parents are faring.
6 Signs That Indicate Your Parents May Need Extra Care
Memory loss/Dementia (Symptom: A gradual or sudden loss of memory and language skills may result in evasive answers in an attempt to cover the inability to remember words, places, and people.)
Diminished hearing (Symptom: Your parents don’t always answer the phone or take a long time pick up when you call… even though they’d always answered with no problems before.)
Diminished sight (Symptoms: Is your parent experiencing falls? Have you noticed a hesitance in his or her walk?
Falls (Symptoms: Unexplained bruises, often accompanied by explanations for cuts, bruises, or broken bones that don’t ring true)
Incontinence (Symptoms: Clothing stains; odors emanating from furniture, clothing, or automobile seats)
Self Neglect (Symptoms: Poor eating habits and inadequate nutrition/hydration; failure or inability to follow through on physician’s instructions, medicine dosages, etc.)
Of course, if you do determine that perhaps your parents need extra care, how do you bring that about? We’ll start by directing you to a link that takes a look at how to approach the subject with your parents, how to conduct a family discussion on the topic, and more…
Visit us at http://www.seniorhomecareusa.com
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Seniors and Driving
There is perhaps nothing that strikes terror more in the heart of an elderly driver than the words, “It is time to stop driving.” The impact of these can be even more powerful and devastating to some seniors than the diagnosis of a debilitating illness. Because driving in our culture is so closely related to a person’s sense of independence, the decision to take action to limit or revoke an older person’s driving rights is a very emotional one.
Even considering the idea of taking the car away from a parent is difficult for an adult child for two reasons. First, an adult son or daughter may feel that if they take away the car/driving rights, they are to blame for their parent’s loss of freedom, and may worry about the ensuing consequences such as frustration, anxiety, loss of self-esteem, and depression. Second is the practical issue of mobility and transportation. Many wonder. “If my mother/father can no longer drive themselves, who is going to do it? How will they get around? How can I keep them safe while protecting their sense of freedom?”
Though emotions can run high when it is time to limit or revoke driving rights, it is important to base your decision on concrete information. Aging very often does affect abilities necessary to safely operate a vehicle. There can be a slowdown in response time, a loss of clarity in vision and hearing, a loss of muscle strength and flexibility, and a reduction in the ability to focus or concentrate. Any one of these impairments can lead to unsuitability for safe driving – regardless of age – and are often seen increasingly as the aging process progresses. And though feelings are strong around this issue, it is best to step back and consider the well-being of all involved: your parents, other drivers, and pedestrians.
Fortunately, there are a sources of outside authority and help you can turn to. If your mother or father has been diagnosed with any type of cognitive impairment (Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc.), he or she should not be driving at all. Your parent’s doctor would vouch to this.
The DMV can be another ally in this process. Depending on your state’s regulations and your parent’s disabilities, it may actually be illegal for him or her to continue driving. After you have contacted the DMV, they may do nothing more than send a letter, but this might help convince your parent to stop driving. You could also request a vision test, which, if not satisfactorily passed, makes it illegal to operate a car.
Another route to take can be to literally confiscate the keys, disable the car, or move it to a location beyond your parent’s access. While more extreme, these measures could save the lives of your mother or father, other drivers, and pedestrians – allowing them all to stay around longer to enrich your life and enjoy theirs.
It is important to seek out available help in these situations. There is no need to do it all alone. Care-giving can be incredibly stressful, and besides practical help, you need all the emotional support you can muster. The common desire to do everything for an older loved one often leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, which not only depletes you, but goes contrary to your original goal of making the situation better. Hiring a caregiver to help assist you with an elderly loved one is an effective strategy. A caregiver can compassionately share the burden of care-taking responsibilities while allowing you to maintain and enhance the quality of your life and that of your loved one. Visit us on the web http://www.seniorhomecareusa.com
Even considering the idea of taking the car away from a parent is difficult for an adult child for two reasons. First, an adult son or daughter may feel that if they take away the car/driving rights, they are to blame for their parent’s loss of freedom, and may worry about the ensuing consequences such as frustration, anxiety, loss of self-esteem, and depression. Second is the practical issue of mobility and transportation. Many wonder. “If my mother/father can no longer drive themselves, who is going to do it? How will they get around? How can I keep them safe while protecting their sense of freedom?”
Though emotions can run high when it is time to limit or revoke driving rights, it is important to base your decision on concrete information. Aging very often does affect abilities necessary to safely operate a vehicle. There can be a slowdown in response time, a loss of clarity in vision and hearing, a loss of muscle strength and flexibility, and a reduction in the ability to focus or concentrate. Any one of these impairments can lead to unsuitability for safe driving – regardless of age – and are often seen increasingly as the aging process progresses. And though feelings are strong around this issue, it is best to step back and consider the well-being of all involved: your parents, other drivers, and pedestrians.
Fortunately, there are a sources of outside authority and help you can turn to. If your mother or father has been diagnosed with any type of cognitive impairment (Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc.), he or she should not be driving at all. Your parent’s doctor would vouch to this.
The DMV can be another ally in this process. Depending on your state’s regulations and your parent’s disabilities, it may actually be illegal for him or her to continue driving. After you have contacted the DMV, they may do nothing more than send a letter, but this might help convince your parent to stop driving. You could also request a vision test, which, if not satisfactorily passed, makes it illegal to operate a car.
Another route to take can be to literally confiscate the keys, disable the car, or move it to a location beyond your parent’s access. While more extreme, these measures could save the lives of your mother or father, other drivers, and pedestrians – allowing them all to stay around longer to enrich your life and enjoy theirs.
It is important to seek out available help in these situations. There is no need to do it all alone. Care-giving can be incredibly stressful, and besides practical help, you need all the emotional support you can muster. The common desire to do everything for an older loved one often leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, which not only depletes you, but goes contrary to your original goal of making the situation better. Hiring a caregiver to help assist you with an elderly loved one is an effective strategy. A caregiver can compassionately share the burden of care-taking responsibilities while allowing you to maintain and enhance the quality of your life and that of your loved one. Visit us on the web http://www.seniorhomecareusa.com
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