Plan Ahead: Residential Home Care For Parents

No one wants to think about our parents getting older, but there’s nothing we can do about it.  Each day we all grow older and will one day need help from others to do various things.  I often wonder what will happen to my father when he hits this stage since I live out of state and my sister lives a few hours away from him.  I have offered to move him closer to us, but he can’t stand the Texas heat and his home is in Kentucky.  He does NOT want to go to a nursing home, which I can understand, but if something happens to my step mom, he will be alone and may not be able to be on his own forever.

Recently, an older family member on my husband’s side lost his wife and needs help with various activities, but is capable of  living on his own.  He is now living in an assisted living community and has the choice to be in his “unit” and enjoy being on his own, or he can easily visit the other residents in the common area.  Yes he is living on his own, but there are caregivers who assist him with his medicine and anything else that he may need.  He was able to get a two bedroom suite for extra living space and brought in his own furniture and  home furnishings which makes him feel at home.

I believe residential home care would be the perfect option for my dad in the future.  Depending on what his needs may be, I feel this option could take care of his needs better than I could.  He could still move to Texas to be closer to me if he chose and could get great care while feeling independent at the same time.  Again, no one likes to talk about this, but it will eventually happen and when it does, we’ll be better prepared if we start  planning now.

Dad, if you are reading this, I am just trying to be prepared, not pass you off to someone else – I love you!