Homecare

When & Where does it Start?

Homecare starts with the recognition that your loved one is beginning to decline and needs more assistance. This can start with small adjustments, but you must keep your eye on the ball. Decline is not always a straight line. 

The first thing to consider is your loved one’s current medical condition, cognitive condition and their ability to function normally in their daily activities. Establishing a baseline for this allows you to measure future changes in condition. Once established, you begin tracking or rather monitoring your loved one’s condition and their evolving need for assistance as it grows throughout the remaining stages of care.

Waiting and reacting is a dangerous way to proceed. Hoping for the best or ignoring the reality of their decline and what it will require from you, can leave both you and your loved one at risk. 

Homecare is the sweet spot if done at the caregiver’s home. Your loved one’s monthly bills have radically been reduced while their income remains the same. This allows you to save for future care fr as long as they are able to stay with you. 

If they stay at home, many things must be reevaluated for clutter, safety and daily living. Falls are the #1 injury leading to premature death. Your loved one could lay on the kitchen floor for hours awaiting help.

You must get ahead of this curve by understanding what to do and when to do it.

Regardless of whether they remain at home or move to your home, this will require not only a great deal of planning, but also a great deal of adjustment on everyone’s part. 

From planning to managing daily needs, emotions and logistics will be challenging. Your best mitigation possible is to plan for all of what you know is coming, in advance. Know what to expect and be ready for it. Keep your loved one safe.

Another huge advantage of planning in advance is the ability to manage your career while managing care. This can be an enriching family affair or a debilitating nightmare. It always amazes me that the huge, long-term responsibility of caregiving is rarely planned for even though there is so much at stake. 

You can build a family legacy or stop speaking to each other. You can be strengthened by hardship or spiral out of control. You can use your grief to fuel new passion in your career or lose your job. The reality that your parents will need your help as they age must become as important as getting married, saving for college or buying a home.

Start from wherever you are. Have this important conversation. Plan in advance for one of the most important things you and your family will ever do. 

Start with the Conversation…