(1)   Staying in one’s own home. Most of them prefer this option because their home is where they have spent most of their life and hence find it extremely convenient and comfortable. This arrangement is certainly possible with the help of a medical alert button that summons help when necessary. The cost is also quite reasonable. Depending upon the situation, you can arrange for a caregiver to visit the aged parents periodically or have someone assist them in their daily needs. The caregiver must be screened meticulously because not all elderly people may like the idea of having someone in their house or monitoring their progress constantly.

Alternatively, you can also send the elderly people to adult day care every once in a while if they would want to socialize with others similar to them. This may be a convenient option since they can also return home the very same day.

(2)   You can also look at taking the senior(s) into your own home. It is a great idea for all family members to stay together provided it is a concept that is favored by all in the family. It takes a lot of determination and tolerance of the family members to have a senior around and offer appropriate assistance to them. This is more so when the elderly person(s) has some ailments. A lot of adjustment will have to be done and the efforts of all close ones in the family should be available.

(3)   Assisted living facility or nursing home. This is applicable when the elderly person needs expert medical assistance or when there are no family members available to take care of them. Nursing homes are a more expensive but quite a convenient option. They are at least twice as expensive as assisted living facilities but are effective when 24/7 assistance is required. On the other hand, living facilities with minimal assistance can be sought for when the senior(s) can handle routine activities but would require a periodical visit by caregivers or nurses.

People around you may offer several tips and advice when it comes to senior care. Some may reprimand, some may make you feel guilty. Every option that you choose will be perceived by them in a negative way. The choice of service is entirely dependent on you and the senior. You have an obligation to offer the best possible care to the person you are responsible for. A little homework helps in identifying the most suitable option.

Caring for the elderly can be an exhausting task, both physically and emotionally. It involves a lot of time and effort and often gives rise to stressful situations and arguments. Listed below are 9 pointers to successfully navigate the care and support of your elderly loved ones.

1. Involve the whole family: Get your whole family to participate in discussions on future care-giving. Involve your parents and take into consideration their wishes and opinions too.
2. Plan in advance: Prepare for the future as early as possible. Make arrangements to have legal documents such as wills and power of attorneys in place, and know all about your parents’ relevant financial items, such as insurance policies, health insurance, deeds, investments etc. plus where they are kept.
3. Identify your parents’ needs: Assess the areas where your parents may need help, such as cooking, chores, laundry, personal hygiene, shopping for groceries etc., and ensure that you are available to help. Also put into place any necessary precautions and safety measures to prevent falls, electric shocks etc.
4. Stay informed: Keep track of your parents’ medical history, prescribed medicines, allergies, side-effects etc. Speak to their doctor about detailed instructions for each drug, including when to take, what foods to avoid when taking it etc., and any possible drug interactions and related complications.
5. Respect your parents’ space: Allow them a degree of independence in decisions and activities in which they can take care of themselves. Give them their space and the right to make choices, and be honest when discussing their health issues with them.
6. Allocate responsibility: Share care-giving responsibilities within the family by proper division of tasks to ensure that things run smoothly for your parents and no one family member is over-burdened or overwhelmed by the work of care-giving.
7. Allot some self-time: Take time out to take care of yourself and unwind with your favorite activities. Be realistic about what you can and can’t contribute to your parents’ care and ensure you don’t over-stress yourself.
8. Be alert for warning signs: Keep your eyes open for signs such as rapid weight loss, forgetfulness, mood swings, poor attention to hygiene etc., which may indicate the onset of dementia or depression. Also be alert for signs of reduced mobility or physical impairment which may hinder them in their daily activities.
9. Seek outside help if needed: If you are unable to provide the amount of care required by your parents, be open to asking for help from outside sources like nursing services, local agencies, elderly care units etc.

Caring for elderly parents is a huge and extremely demanding responsibility and requires an intensive effort from the caregiver. Knowing some useful pointers and making use of your options can go a long way in making care-giving a smoother process for everyone involved.

But tens of millions of Baby Boomers don’t get paid anything for the hours of personal care they give to their ailing parents. If you were to calculate this time in hourly wage costs, the figure would be about the same as the entire Medicare budget. Added to this, another seven million Boomers assist with caregiving from a distance, paying nearly $5,000 a month out-of-pocket for various expenses. Those costs rise even higher in terms of salaries, benefits and pensions sacrificed to the tune of $650,000 yearly for children who already have or who plan to leave their jobs to help care for their elderly parents.

But the money is only a part of the price paid by caregivers for their love and devotion. Losses aren’t always related to bank accounts when it comes to caregiving for the elderly. The obligations of the caregivers’ work may make it difficult to engage in some of their favorite activities, such as meeting friends for dinner, taking in a movie or going on a vacation with the family. They forfeit many aspects of their lives, such as their time, missed professional opportunities, and changes in their personal relationships that can leave them isolated and all alone.

Sometimes the care necessary for a love one is short-term and not especially complicated, such as the assistance required to recover from a broken leg. But more often the elderly are headed for a period of decline that will bring increasing needs for assistance. It can take huge chunks of time for caregivers to give the proper amount of help to their parents — and other family members and friends — during this difficult time of transition. One of the biggest costs faced by caregivers is the loss of their own health and peace of mind. There is evidence to support the fact that some caregivers truly do sacrifice their lives to aid the ones they love.

But there are ways to make the personal and financial costs of caregiving less of a drain. To do this, you will need to respond to your situation in a proactive, rather than a reactive way. You can save money through planning. You know how this works: think about those times you went to the grocery without your shopping list. Having a clear-cut plan is a great way to reduce stress and cut down on physical strain. It’s always wise not to launch a challenging project until you have clearly defined your options and outlined a back-up strategy.

5 Tips To Decrease The Cost Of Caregiving:

1. Get started on your plan immediately. Our culture is not especially advanced in terms of recognizing the realities of aging, disability and death. It’s always difficult to set out on an uphill climb; similarly, the first conversation you have with your parents about the care they are eventually going to need will be tough.
2. Map out a plan to help guide you. Talk to your parents about what they want to happen if they begin to require outside assistance for most of their needs. When you get an answer you can work with, take a proactive approach and develop a comprehensive care plan. Do some research into the various types of long-term care insurance available. Make sure all the appropriate legal documents are drawn up. Determine who would make medical choices for your parents if they were no longer able to make sound decisions themselves, and be sure to consult some of the common guiding principles for such choices.
3. Utilize available personal and community resources. There are numerous community resources to help you with this, and you may know people who are professionally trained in this area who would be willing to work with you. Caregiving for these older people should be a family job, with everyone contributing something. Children can play a very special role by coloring pictures for their grandparents and calling when possible. Find services in your area that will lighten your caregiver’s load. If you live in the same community as your parents, ask the people you know to give you suggestions for resources that could help you out.
4. Be cost-conscious. There are generic versions of some types of medicine, and many stores and restaurants offer senior discounts. But not all cost-saving deals are as well known. In some states, funding is available to buy phones for the hearing-impaired, or the visually or mobility-limited elderly, or to pay for safety upgrades around the home.
5. Stay healthy. It’s also very important for you to take good care of yourself. When you’re operating at your best, you’ll be a better caregiver. Eat right, and get plenty of sleep and exercise. Stress management is vital, so take time every day to do something nurturing for yourself. As a caregiver, your risk is high for a number of physical and emotional ailments, such as anxiety, depression, and a weakened immune system. If you notice substantial, troubling changes in your sleep, or you experience a loss of appetite or diminished interest in activities you used to enjoy, talk to your doctor.And yet despite all of these medical and financial situations caregivers may encounter, the majorities say they received far more than they gave when assisting their elderly parents. Most of them would agree to do it again, if necessary – and sometimes it is.The primary issue isn’t the personal cost of caregiving; the value you bring to the lives of those who need you is what matters most. It’s a privilege to assist those who gave you life, and to help them enjoy their last years with love and dignity. What price are you willing to pay for that?

Adult Day Care
In the case of adult day care, you get the least amount of time in that care, which extends to 5 days a week of 8 hours daily. This particular brand of care is often extended to the elderly with deteriorating conditions such as visual and hearing impairment, Alzheimer’s and declining brain function, as well as those with physical handicaps and HIV or AIDS. If caregivers simply don’t have the time to care for their charges all the time, they send them here. Typically, prior to entering the program, it’s explicitly stated what their needs and abilities may be. Due to the lack of personal care and rehab services offered by adult day care, you have to evaluate the person’s physical ability. Adult day care can be quite advantageous in that the independence of the person is maintained, and family members can still take care of them in the off hours, after they get off work.

Medicaid can pay for this service, provided that they qualify; other income sources can be medical insurance, tax credits, or need based scholarships. Adult day care is not covered by Medicare. The majority of these centers are non-profit, but they do charge for services. Each center has its own rates. Rates may vary from one center to another and rates are determined based on the location and quality of services. You can also arrange transportation. You can find state-licensed full time nursing services with these particular facilities.
Assisted Living
Assisted living is the next level of care the elderly can receive, barring living with their family. If a senior citizen has some degree of independence, but needed more hands-on care then they’d get in a retirement community, they go here. These places emphasize the independence of the individual resident, and try to give them privacy. When living in an assisted care facility, you can take advantage of health care, education, unit maintenance, shopping, money management, meal preparation, housekeeping, linen, 24-hour care, activities between residents, personal care and transportation. There are 1 bedroom units or studios that are both furnished and unfurnished that they can live in. Elders or seniors may have to share a bathroom. There are full kitchens or kitchenettes in quite a few units.

When a resident is considered for inclusion, they’re evaluated according to their mental awareness, medical history, and physical abilities in order to make sure that they would benefit from residing in assisted living. When in assisted living, it’s encouraged to have family members stop by still, and they are all invited to the intermittent social activities that they have. There are commonly full medical staff and trained nurses in these facilities. Dining rooms are provided, along with meals; residents can have assistance eating. There are many activities that happen every day, which are still optional to attend. There are also church services which can have a denomination or not, typically having a bit of both. The state regulates and oversees assisted care facilities.

Personal funds, Medicaid, health insurance and Social Security can all be ways in which to fund Elders or Seniors stay. There are many different costs, depending on how big your unit is and where it is located. The average cost of a monthly stay in Philadelphia assisted care based on a survey conducted by Metlife Mature Institute last year (2009) is $ 2,933.

Nursing Homes

The highest amount of care is provided in nursing homes. There are physical needs to attend to. Residents of these facilities usually don’t have the ability to move on their own, or eat and drink by themselves, due to physical or mental ailments. These residents have a very low level of function in their daily lives. For the most part, residents of nursing homes will never be able to care for themselves again, so their daily activities have to be assisted. Medical needs will also be a factor.

There is 24 hour nursing assistance available for residents. Due to the needs of the residents, this level of care is put in place. Medication is completely managed, and a physician monitors its use and dosage. If you have enough private funds, you are able to get a private room. For the most part, 2 people occupy a single room. There are either dining area options or delivered meals in their room. Nursing homes can provide the residents with laundry, housekeeping, meals, social activities, and exercise. It’s stressed that family members should stop by.

Depending on the location of the home and the surcharges that private payers have to shell out, nursing homes can vary in cost. Most of the costs in a nursing home are provided for by the government. This type of financial support extends to approximately 85% of the residents of nursing homes. Long-term care insurance is another way to fund your stay. This, however, stretches out between $235 to $248 a day in most cases, and will cost you $7,000 a month or more. Provided the services and location you get, this figure can absolutely change.

To conclude, you can get temporary care for your elderly person through adult day care, and permanent residence with nursing homes and assisted living. You should look into what financial options you have available. Medicare and AARP are great places to get this information. You can find plenty of websites online that will allow you to find the best place to get your loved one the care they need, and you can find plenty of people to network within the phone book. It’s absolutely paramount that we take care of our elders. You’ll feel a lot better knowing that they’re in good hands.

To make it possible for them to stay in their home environment, millions of people throughout the U.S. work as caregivers to help the elderly with day-to-day routines and health needs. But this type of care often must be supplemented with paid outside assistance, as the caregivers have other family and work obligations and can’t provide help 24/7. At present, Americans spent more than $40 billion per year on home health care, to give the elderly the opportunity to live out their lives with dignity at home.

If finding a home health care agency has become necessary for you or someone you know, here are some suggestions that may make your search easier.

First, determine exactly what the elderly person’s care requirements are or will be. Will hands-on care be required, for example, help with bathing, dressing, and using the toilet? Does the elderly person have cognitive issues that will necessitate a specialized form of care?

Second, check the financial aspect of the services required. Are there adequate finances to pay for the help? Is the elderly person willing to let an outsider help him or her? Think carefully about these questions and then write down the answers, together with the amount of time (days and hours) will be needed from the caregiver.

Third, list down all the information needed and have it ready when you contact a home health care agency. If you aren’t sure how to answer some of these questions, contact a senior center in your area for assistance. Most often these agencies employ social workers who can evaluate the elderly; if not, they have a network of professionals who can assist you, such as geriatric care managers. This is a professional familiar with the requirements for making long-term care arrangements for older people. This type of specialist can come to the home to evaluate the elderly person, create a care plan, and oversee all help and services.

The type of care that the elderly person requires must be identified by a qualified professional.

Custodial care is often done by home health aides, home care aides, and nursing assistants, who are trained to help people manage daily routines in their own homes, nursing homes or assisted living facilities. The duties of a custodial care helper include assisting with bathing, dressing, and getting around, along with transporting the elderly person outside the living area, general housekeeping, and other similar tasks.

Skilled care is conducted under the supervision of a doctor and provided by health care professionals such as registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses or therapists. This type of care can be necessary for someone who was hospitalized for a various medical condition and is now back at home. These services are coordinated by discharge planners and social workers and may call for help from certified nursing assistants if the skilled care plan requires it.

Getting in touch with the appropriate agency.

The licensing and regulation of home health care systems are authorized by each state. Due to this, different states have different licensure rules. The only federally regulated agencies are those that are Medicare-certified. If Medicare will be providing coverage for the health care needs of an elderly person, a Medicare-certified agency must provide it.

Financing the care plan.

Many older people depend on Medicare to cover their home health care needs, but in truth Medicare only pays for skilled care needs of an individual who meets certain Medicare criteria. Medicare does not pay for long-term care assistance. People who are seeking custodial care should be aware that it won’t be covered by Medicare or most forms of health insurance. If you want custodial care, you must use your own resources to pay for it. You can check with your local Agency on Aging to see if there are programs or services available for the elderly person in your life who needs home care.

The MetLife Mature Market Institute has published a free booklet titled “Understanding Home Care Agency Options. Developed together with the National Alliance for Caregiving, it is part of a guidebook series called “Since You Care.” It contains suggestions, resource guides, and comprehensive checklists.

Being active keeps the body working as well as it can…
When you stop being active your muscles deteriorate, and worse, you lose your flexibility and your joints can begin to freeze up. This eventually and inevitably leads to more laboured, or even limited, mobility. Staying active and exercising on a regular basis will keep your muscles, ligaments and joints working so that you can avoid deterioration as much as possible. If you’ve already been dormant, it’s not too late to start stretching and exercising. It’ll do you heaps of good!

Being active keeps the mind sharp…
It’s been proven that an active, healthy lifestyle is beneficial to the mind as well as the body. Physical fitness and activities can have a great impact on keeping the mind young, but being active doesn’t only mean exercise and stretching. Taking part in activities that exercise the mind specifically are also great. Whether it be painting, chess, music or whatever your favourite hobby may be, staying active in that hobby can have fantastic effects on keeping your mind in shape.

Seniors have a lot of options for staying active…
There are a ton of different options for Seniors to stay active. Whether it be early morning mall walks (a popular choice), group classes or events, there are many great ways for Seniors to have fun, stay active and be social all at the same time. There really is no excuse to stay pent up at home all day.

Remember, healthy, active living is one of the most important keys to maintaining the body and the mind and keeping them both sharp and functioning at their top capacity. Don’t allow yourself to become sedentary. Spend time every day doing something enjoyable that you love to do. If you do, your quality of life will be much higher than if you simply sat around, and your body and mind will thank you for it!

Often times, having them move in with you might be a desirable option, but just isn’t feasible for a multitude of reasons. Many families don’t have the spare rooms or space to bring another person into their homes, and even if they do, having mom or dad move back home can be a stressful experience, with the elderly parent having to adjust to living under someone else rules and to a lesser level of independence.

Retirement communities are an option, but many old people dread the thought of being sent to an assisted living community. Even though they’re fantastic places and in the vast majority of cases nothing like the stereotypes make them out to be, they still invoke images of a dreary life without enjoyment in a rundown establishment.

However, there is a very good option that allows senior citizens to keep their independence, keep their own homes, and get the care and assistance they need to get by in their day to day lives. That option is caregiver agencies. Caregiver agencies provide in-home care to aging seniors so that they can maintain their current lifestyle as much as possible while still receiving necessary care and help.

Caregiver agencies hire trained professionals who travel to the homes of seniors to attend to their needs in an unintrusive way, often leading to deep friendships in which the caregiver is more like a friend than an employee. Caring for seniors can be a daunting task, so it helps a great deal to have a trained professional taking care of it. It benefits both the seniors and their families, and is often times a win-win situation for everyone involved.

If your parent or parents are at or nearing the age where they need assistance with their day to day lives, but for whatever reason are reluctant or unable to give up their current lifestyle to move into a care facility, then you should strongly consider the option of a caregiver agency. It could be exactly the solution both you and your parent are looking for.

The level of care needed will have a major effect on the cost of assisted living…
This is a big part of determining the cost of care for the elderly. Not everyone is the same and every individual elderly person is going to need their own unique care based on their own specific needs. Obviously, the more care they’ll need, the more it’s going to cost. This means that over-doing the care might bring extra expense. That being said, it is incredibly important not to under-estimate the level of care needed purely to save money. If a senior is still able to go through most of their day to day life on their own, then having an in-home professional come by daily to help when needed will likely be enough. However, if the senior needs constant care, they may need to move to an assisted living community, which will be far costlier.

The area of the country will have a major effect on the cost of assisted living…
The location of the assistance can have a huge impact on the total cost. There are certain areas of the country where assisted living is simply cheaper than it is in other area, just like real estate, cost of living and many other expenses. Living in an assisted care community in Washington D.C. or in Beverly Hills is going to cost significantly more than living in a similar facility in the mid-west or in a smaller town. There are also certain hot spots around the country like Palm Springs and many cities in Florida that offer favourable climates. These places will also tend to be costlier as they are considered more “premium” areas. This however doesn’t mean that assisted living in cheaper areas is lower quality care. The care of any individual community is dependent on the staff and facilities, not on the location, so do your research!

Just remember, choosing an assisted living solution is a major decision for many reasons other than just cost, so it is very important that you do your research diligently and do everything in your power to make sure you’re choosing the best option possible.

One option is to bring your parents into your own home to live with you. This option has a lot of upsides, like being able to give them a lot of personal attention and the peace of mind knowing they’ll be taken care of, but there are also a lot of potential downsides to this arrangement. First of all, a lot of families just don’t have the space in their homes to bring in another person. This can be a big limiting factor.

Another big downside is the effect it can have on the relationship. Remember when you were living in your parents house, under their rules. Well, it can be just as hard for them to live in your house under your rules. After living a long and completely independent life, it can be difficult for seniors to adjust to giving up their own home and moving in with family. It can sometimes put some serious stress on the relationship and bring a lot of extra stress to daily life for both you and your parent. Luckily though, there is an option available that can help avoid all this; home health aide.

If you parent or parents don’t want to leave their home and move in either with you or to an assisted living community, home health aide offers them the option to keep their home, continue living independently, but have a professional health aide worker come into their home to help them with their needs and assist them with anything they find themselves unable to do for themselves. This provides an unobtrusive solution that allows them to keep their independence, and can be a great option depending on their needs.

Whatever path you decide to take, just remember, you can’t simply ignore the issue when your parent or parents get to the age where they need assistance. Some families can seamlessly move mom and/or dad back into their own home without a problem, but often times it isn’t that easy. Home health aide from a professional trained to assist the elderly could be the perfect solution for your parents.

Assisted living communities are not prisons…
Assisted living communities sometimes bring up the stereotypical image of a gloomy retirement home where people are stripped completely of their independence and kept on a strict schedule, or worse yet, even abused. This is completely unrealistic. The reality is that assisted living communities foster independence among their residents. They aren’t there to limit the seniors, they’re simply there to help them with their needs, whatever those needs may be. Some residents will need almost no help at all, and they choose to live in the community purely for the company and social interaction. This is the second major benefit of assisted living communities.

The social lives of seniors in assisted living communities are fantastic…
These communities go out of their way to ensure that their residents live healthy active lives, and are as social as possible. There are always programs available for residents to participate in, as well as fun trips and events. One of the best benefits though is purely the social aspect of living around like minded people who seniors can enjoy deep friendships with. The difference this can make when compared to the solitary life that many seniors live is incredible. Staying pent up in your home or being alone all the time simply aren’t healthy things. Assisted living communities give their residents that much needed social exposure that can make a great deal of difference in quality of life.

Just remember…
Assisted living homes are not the gloomy, dark retirement homes you see in sitcoms and cartoons like ‘The Simpsons’. In fact, they’re often the exact opposite. Vibrant, lively places where seniors live independently among each other with the added benefit of having access to the assistance they need dependant on their individual needs. Living in such a community provides the care seniors need, as well as the extremely important social interaction that makes such a huge difference in their lives.