Sometimes you can live right down the road from aging loved ones and be unaware of their inability to care for themselves. Joyce Eberhardt found that out the hard way. Her mother, Beverly Fisher, lived alone about 15 miles from Joyce. On weekend visits, Beverly seemed fine on the surface, but Joyce began to notice odd behavior. She invited her mom to stay with her for a week to see if her suspicions were correct. During that week, Joyce realized her mother regularly exhibited short-term memory loss, repeating the same things over and over in conversation. She often forgot to take her medicine and seemed disinterested in keeping the doctors’ appointments necessary to treat her various conditions, which include congestive heart failure, COPD and diabetes. 

At the end of the week, Joyce admitted the truth – Beverly’s health and wellbeing had been rapidly deteriorating, yet no one had noticed. Joyce knew her mother could no longer safely take care of herself, and invited her to move in full-time.

“She needed someone to be involved, but didn’t know how to ask or who wanted to do it,” Joyce said of her mother. And she greatly appreciates Joyce helping her manage her doctor visits and medications. With Beverly’s declining cognitive abilities, this is especially important.

“I’m glad she’s with me,” said Joyce. “But I definitely see the need for more supervision. I’m at work all day, and it will get to the point where I’ll need someone else to make sure she has lunch and takes her lunchtime pills.”

Navigating the Senior Care Maze

So where do people turn when an elderly friend or relative needs assistance? Often families don’t know what to do because they’ve never been in this situation and are in crisis mode with an immediate need for care.

Senior care is never a one-size-fits-all solution, and factors such as frailty, specific diseases, social supports, and individual ability should be considered. To make an informed decision, it is necessary to understand the choices available.

Home care is often the preferred choice of seniors. Non-medical home care provides assistance with daily needs such as bathing, feeding and housekeeping. Medicare certified agencies provide health care services in the home if the patient qualifies, if the services are ordered by a physician, and if recovery or recuperation is a goal.

There are also a variety of options outside of one’s home for care. Independent living apartment complexes usually offer common areas for meals and activities. Assisted living facilities are similar, but also offer personal care assistance. Adult care homes offer a more intimate setting and benefit individuals with Alzheimer’s, dementia, or a medical condition that would do best with routine monitoring. Finally, skilled nursing homes offer medical care by registered nurses and doctors, with 24/7 medical care and rehabilitation available.

Geriatric care managers can be a very helpful resource in coordinating care needs while reducing stress on family members. Geriatric care managers help guide a family to determine how to best meet the needs of the individual. They also work as mediators between all the care providers and the family, which provides an invaluable service when the family cannot be present.

There are many resources available to help consumers become educated on senior care issues.  A few of these include http://www.caring.com/; http://www.gilbertguide.com/; and http://www.parentcaregiving.com/. The National Private Duty Association, http://www.privatedutyhomecare.org/, provides valuable information on both non-medical and medical member agencies. To find a local geriatric care manager, visit the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, http://www.caremanager.org/.

When it comes to taking care of those we love in their later years, whether you’re near or far, it’s beneficial to become educated on all of the available options. The ultimate goal is to respect the wants and needs of the seniors, helping them live their final years with as much dignity and independence as possible.

About the author: Kim McCreery

Kim McCreery has been providing home care services to seniors in Arizona since 1996. Kim founded At Home Solutions in 2001 with the goal to provide exceptionally high quality home care services in rural areas of Arizona. In realizing that goal, At Home Solutions performs intensive screening of each caregiver, thorough, ongoing training and guaranteed staffing.  For more information, visit www.athomesol.com.