Preparing Your Parents to Age in Place

If your parents seek to age in place, which is the ability to live in one’s home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, you may wonder how to prepare them for their sunset years best. It’s always best to plan for the future, instead of scrambling in an emergency. Once you, your parents, and their healthcare provider have determined that aging in place is a safe option for them, here are a few steps you can take to help them, and yourself, plan for the road ahead.

Have the Difficult Conversations

Encourage your parents to complete wills (including living wills), identify who they wish to make medical decisions on their behalf, and find out if they have funeral arrangements preplanned. While these may not be topics that are comfortable to discuss, having your parents finalize their decisions will give you a roadmap to follow in the future. It prevents confusion about “what mom would want” and it prevents legal troubles, too.

Do Estate Planning with an Elder Law or Estate Planning Attorney

According to Abbe Udochi, CEO of Concierge Healthcare Consulting, “This kind of planning will help middle-income families stretch their dollars if a health crisis arises. Add an adult child as a signatory on financial accounts. Determine who a Power of Attorney could be. Ensure the family has a living will and will, so all of the Senior’s desires are documented and understood.”

Organize Documents

Make sure that important documents are in a known and locked location. Gather Social Security cards, birth certificates, wills, life insurance information, pension or retirement accounts, bank accounts, and other vital documents so that they can be easily accessed when needed.

Have a Falls Assessment Done

Contact a local physical therapist who specializes in geriatric care, or a certified aging-in-place specialist to make recommendations for small changes that can keep your parents safe as well as to assess if physical therapy would be useful to address any weaknesses or balance issues.

When it comes to fall prevention, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Having a professional evaluate the living space, as well as your parent’s gait, balance and other risk factors could prevent a lengthy, expensive, or damaging fall in the future.

Install a Wheelchair Ramp

If your parent is a bit unsteady on their feet, or hesitant on their front stairs, it’s time for a call to National Ramp and get a handicap ramp. A National Ramp dealer can be at your parents’ home within a few hours of calling to do a home assessment to create a handicap ramp solution that will work for their present and future needs.

A modular ramp can offer security, including strong handrails, to prevent accidents now, even if your parent is only using a walker or cane for assistance, and an existing ramp will create seamless access if their mobility changes in the future.

Get All Decision Makers on the Same Page

If responsibilities will be shared among family members, it’s best to check in and make sure everyone is clear and comfortable with their role. Establish a relationship with a Geriatric Care Manager, especially if all family members are non-local to your parent. Sadly, the stress of dealing with medical emergencies can cause rifts between family members. Keeping open communication can help mitigate that risk.

Plan for the Future

Even if your parents are healthy, mobile, and able to take care of themselves today, the same may not be true in 5, 10, or 15 years. Put plans in place for what will happen if/when they become mentally or physically unable to care for themselves – is there a point at which you will hire a home health aide or move them out of their homes? If they move, is it with family or to an assisted living facility?

Says Udochi, “Get to know the assisted living, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, hospitals, supportive residences, adult day programs, senior centers in your area. Do some tours, become familiar with pricing, make choices, and write them down for the future.”

Wire Their Home

Increasing technology to a level that they are comfortable with can be extremely beneficial for you and your parents. Innovative technology arriving on the market looks to help predict changes in cognitive and physical health that could be early indicators of underlying medical issues to discuss with your parent’s doctor.

And even more accessible and mainstream systems offer daily and even preventative aid. Systems like Google Home or Amazon Echo can call contacts or even 911 in an emergency, medication apps can alert you when prescriptions are missed or need a refill, and doorbells can let you and your parent monitor who is at their home.

The places we live can hold deep meaning to us. We remember celebrating holidays with the people we love, the meals cooked in the kitchen, the time spent relaxing in the backyard, and so much more. Staying in the place that we love, are comfortable in, and holds so many dear memories is an understandable desire. It’s no surprise that so many senior adults wish to age in place.

The decision to age in place doesn’t mean that there aren’t preparations to be made like installing a handicap ramp, looking out for bumps, and removing carpets. But thinking ahead financially, medically, and legally will prevent stress and provide peace of mind for both you and your parent.