Determining whether your parent or senior needs in-home Senior Home Care is not a cut and dry process – it’s important to pay attention to the subtleties. Key areas to note are:
- Appearance: Is the laundry done? Is the yard maintained? How is your parent dressed? How is their hygiene? How is their mobility? Is their mental or physical health diminishing? If these areas have deteriorated, they may be signs that Senior Home Care would be beneficial.
- Broken commitments: This can come in two forms – first, your loved one may be making excuses not to attend family or social events that they wouldn’t miss in the past. Secondly, you or your siblings may find yourself falling through on your obligations because you are caring for your loved one (cancelling vacations, missing your children’s events, not participating in hobbies, missing work, etc.).
- Guilt: If you are experiencing guilt either when caring for your parent or when you aren’t (sometimes both!), it’s important to reevaluate the situation. Guilt can quickly lead to depression and anxiety, and this is not healthy for you, your loved one, or your other family members.
- Role reversal: Have you become the parent? Are you or your siblings making decisions that your parent used to make? Are you taking care of activities of daily living for them (bathing, dressing, preparing food)?
- Safety: Could your parent get out of the house in case of an emergency? Could they even hear a fire alarm?
If you feel that these signs apply to your situation, working with Mom’s Best Friend can help. Your mother or father can become more independent with a companion caregiver, and enjoy a higher quality of life.
Note: Assessing the situation is nearly impossible over the phone, so having regular visits with your aging parent is a good idea. If don’t live in the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex area, holidays can be a great time to take note of any changes to determine whether Senior Home Care are right for them.
