Can Taking Care Of Your Elderly Parents Harm Your Relationships With Family?

Can Taking Care Of Your Elderly Parents Harm Your Relationships With Family?

Every day approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching the age of 65 and becoming senior citizens. Many of the Baby Boomer’s parents are still alive, living into their 80s, 90s and beyond. By the age of 80 years old and older, most elderly men and women require some type of help. Will this help be provided by their senior citizen children or will it be provided by a home health care service? All across the country, Baby Boomers are trying to physically and financially care for their parents. Some folks are prepared for this task, while others have not prepared to care for themselves as well as their aging parents. With the advances in geriatric medicine, people are living longer, which places a burden on their children to care for them and ensure their safety. Nowadays, senior citizens are trying to care for their parents.

No Longer Able To Care For Themselves

Source: Pexels

Some seniors dread the physical burden of caring for parents who are no longer able to take care of themselves. Caring for your parent requires dedication and commitment. You may need to cut back on the hours you work or even quit your job to care for your elderly parent. In addition to this, you may have children still at home that requires your attention. After the age of 65, Baby Boomers may also be required to care for their impaired sibling while trying to care for an aging parent and children who still live it at home.

Countless family members step up and try to do what is needed. However, not everyone is physically or financially able to care for their parents and siblings. In the beginning, caring for your elderly parent may be easy. It may involve helping with a few tasks that mom or dad can no longer handle a few days a week. However, over time, your loved one’s health may begin to decline and you are left trying to do more tasks, increasing your burden.

If your parent has properly prepared, they may be able to pay someone to help out. Alternatively, if your parent has not prepared financially for their senior years, you may need to step up and care for your parent. If you are unable to properly care for your parent, you may be left with a financial burden of seeking out home care workers or other assistant care services. This can cause resentment, issues between siblings and even hostility between parents and their children or between siblings. Is this preventable? In most cases, there are other options available.

Assisting Hands Home Care As An Option

Source: Pexels

The first thing that should be done when you realize the extra care may be required is to sit down and have a meeting with your siblings to determine what can and cannot be done. Consolidating your parents account into one bank and allowing online access to oversee your parents’ finances and paying bills can be handled by one family member through a Durable Power of attorney. Before one person has an unequal burden, it is important to determine how the care of your parents will be handled both physically and financially.

Family meetings every few months will help to keep everyone apprised of the current situation. Many sibling arguments occur because of assumptions rather than facts. A sibling may accuse another sibling of mismanagement of funds or the care provided because they are not kept up to date on the current situation. This lack of information can cause discord between family members. By staying in touch through emails, texts or phone calls, each family member can stay up to date on their parent and their parent’s care. If one sibling lives closer or is handling the day to day responsibilities of caring for their elderly parent, the sibling should ask for help when it is needed and realize that each sibling may have limitations on what he or she can do physically and financially.

Contact Assisting Hands Home Care

At Assisting Hands Home Care, we are here to help your parents, yourself and your siblings enjoy the twilight years. Our dedicated staff will work with you to develop a care plan based on your parent’s unique physical, emotional, spiritual and financial needs. Contact us today to learn about the different programs that are available and how you can allow your parents to remain in their home safely.

Author’s Bio:

Since her childhood days, Angela has already admired those people who give primary care to the oldies. Because of her passion towards elders, she decided to take Physical Therapy in college which specializes rehabilitation for the elders. During her free time, she writes in her journal about the different moments she had with the elders that she loves most.