Your Options When Your Parent Can No Longer Live Independently

We’re all getting older. As part of that journey through life, we can start to see our relationships with our family change. While our parents might have once been the ones caring for us, that dynamic can flip as they get older. When they’re not longer able to live independently in safety and convenience, then you might have to consider what other options are available to them instead. Here, we’re going to look at a few of them.

Adapting Their Home To Their Needs

Whether you’re welcoming a parent to live with you or trying to help them better live in their own home, modifying the house to their needs is vital. This can include relatively simple adjustments, such as installing grab bars in the bathroom, improving lighting in the kitchen, and adding a stairlift. You can also consider more extensive changes like installing wheelchair ramps and creating a new bathroom on the ground floor.

Becoming Their Carer

If your parent is no longer able to fully meet their own daily needs, such as washing, dressing, and cooking for themselves, then you could take on the role of becoming their primary caregiver. This is a demanding job to take on, and you should look into the financial support that the government can offer if you’re thinking of becoming a full-time carer, as well as caregiving courses from the Healthforce Training Center available near you.

Providing Professional In-Home Care

If you’re not able to take on the role of caring for your parents, then you may need to find someone else to do it for you. Professionally provided options like Comforting Home Care by Phoebe allow your parent to stay in their home with tailored service. These caregivers can develop care plans based on your parent’s individual needs, whether part-time or full-time. Even if you do take on the role of primary caregiver for your parent, they can offer vital respite care so you can still maintain your own quality of life.

Consider a Retirement Community

If in-home care is not practically or economically feasible, then retirement communities come in a wide variety of types, from independent living communities to assisted living facilities. These centers can also offer your parents access to professional care and social interaction, helping avoid the isolation that is so often a mental health risk later in life.

Ensure They Have A Say

While you can research the available options, and find those you think are best suited to your parent, they have to be involved in the decision-making process. Losing the ability to live independently can affect one’s self-esteem and can feel disempowering. Then having the ability to decide how they live after that can intensify these feelings. It may make them a lot less cooperative and potentially damage your relationship with them.

Navigating your options when a parent isn’t able to live by themselves is a topic to be dealt with sensitively. Their safety and comfort come first, but so does their dignity. The tips above can help you navigate this question a little more thoughtfully.