Sometimes more support is needed as people age. The answer is often relocating to a care home setting, where residents are looked after and receive visits from their loved ones.
That said, not everyone is compelled to leave their homes. Unfortunately, not every concern is unfounded, with reports of neglect and exploitation surfacing in these environments. There are also more common reasons for seniors to refuse care home services too; a loss of independence, missing their home or being separated from loved ones.
Sadly, there are some situations where this can be delayed no further. However, if you and your ageing parents still have some time left, there may be a few things you can do to stall the need for a care home. We’ve listed them down below.
Organise Your Caregiving Tasks
You may be your ageing parent’s primary caregiver. In this situation, how organised you are in your responsibilities could greatly influence their well-being.
Start by creating an excel document and scheduling your time diligently. If you share your obligations with others, save the file to a shared cloud server where you can each contribute to the document and make amendments where necessary. These steps should help you and your team stay on top of things.
Keep your own well-being in mind as you schedule matters. If you have other personal and professional responsibilities, you can soon become overwhelmed. Share the load, make everything doable within reason, and you’ll be able to provide the best care you possibly can.
Try to make impromptu visits to your parent too. After all, no matter how diligent a schedule is, unexpected circumstances can always arise. Your parent may also seem rather dejected if your love and attention are somewhat formulaic, so dropping in unannounced and spending time with them occasionally is a good idea.
Secure Mobility Aids
Homes can be designed and repurposed in any fashion the owner desires. Therefore, when necessary, making some choice adjustments to aid your ageing parent’s mobility efforts could help enormously and keep them out of a care home.
Take a look at the range of disability equipment that Adapt a Home readily offers. They have a range of stock for those with mobility challenges, and they also offer free surveys and installations on their stairlift stock as part of their April 2022 promotion. Their adjustable home beds are also made to order. In the end, everything they offer is perfectly tailored to the individual.
Because of the personal touch offered here, your ageing parents can make highly customised adjustments to their homes that serve only to benefit them. Moreover, each home adaptation they make will enable them to be more independent and potentially ease any pain and discomfort they experience.
Investigate Support Schemes
Helping your ageing parents stay in their homes can be a serious obligation. It’s often not possible without some level of personal or financial sacrifice.
There are benefits and financial support available from the government should you require that help. You can also contact the Carer’s Allowance Unit to find out how to make a claim or report any changes to your circumstances. Just as you’d hope your parents would ask you for help if they needed it, you should also be comfortable reaching out for additional support.
Reducing caregiving costs may also enable you to offer more to your ageing parents. The money you save can be reinvested back into them, giving them a better quality of life in the long term.
Once you’re in a better frame of mind and leading a more balanced lifestyle, you can devote more energy to helping your folks. They may even be more likely to accept help from you if they see that your input isn’t costing you anything or hindering your well-being. Try to remember that help is out there should you start to feel any pressure.
Work with Caring Food Suppliers
Some food suppliers endeavour to make deliveries straight to elderly people’s doors, which could save all parties a lot of time and effort. There are further benefits to this service that are also worth mentioning.
Unfortunately, local councils often fail to run any comparative service themselves, so working with trusted brands is your best bet for now. It isn’t an enormous compromise, and you can be confident that your folks will be in good hands.
For example, portions are often cooked in line with older people’s appetites too. They may prefer traditional homecooked foods that are easy on the stomach, such as cottage pies or stews. Elderly folk can have trouble with digestion so plainer foods can be beneficial.
There is also the benefit of the delivery being to a set time, payment information can be saved, and even the item details in the delivery can be stored for each recurring order. Moreover, it could be that the delivery person brightens your ageing parent’s day somewhat with great customer service. Often, they will not only deliver the goods but spend time stocking the items inside the property before heading on their way.
