There will come a time in all of our lives when everyday tasks become unmanageable. Before it happens to us, most of us will watch our elderly parents start to need more assistance with their lives. So, how do we determine when it is time to have a discussion with our senior parents about their living situation? Below are a few of the red flags to look for when you may start to suspect your parent needs help.
1. Trouble getting into and out of bed
One of the first things your parent may mention in passing is that they are finding it increasingly difficult to get themselves into or out of their bed. As we age, our muscles deteriorate and we do not have the strength needed to complete relatively easy tasks. If your parents are having issues getting into or out of bed, it may be time to look into purchasing an adjustable base that has a remote to sit the bed up so that they don’t have to lift or drop their bodies onto their mattress.
2. Issues using the restroom/Incontinence
Another issue most deal with when they age is that they begin to lose control of our pelvic floor, meaning that incontinence is almost inevitable. If not incontinence, then certainly the dexterity to clean ourselves up, or perhaps even the act of sitting down or getting up from the toilet.
3. Weight Loss
Seniors tend to start to lose weight because of loss of appetite linked to certain medications, or they have difficulty chewing or swallowing, or often times, they just do not have the energy to prepare food for themselves for as often as they should be eating. Your parent may also be feeling depressed and isolated, which can cause a loss in appetite.
4. Issues getting themselves dressed
You may begin to notice that your parent complains of having difficulty dressing themselves or perhaps they aren’t able to fasten buttons or connect zippers.
5. Poor Hygiene
If you notice that your senior parents’ hygiene seems to be suffering it is important that you intercede immediately, as seniors generally have compromised immune systems since our immune systems deteriorate as we start to age.
There are many options available for your senior parent depending on the level of care they need, but today we will be discussing if, as a family, you have collectively agreed to take in your senior parents. The first thing to note is that before you offer to move your parent in with you, you should speak to your spouse and/or children because moving a relative into your home will mean big changes for everyone. What are the expectations? Will you be asking other family members to provide assistance using the restroom? Running errands or driving your parent to the doctors’ office or to refill prescriptions? It is one thing if you agree to it, but your family will have to chip in as well.
If you choose to move your parent in with you, you will very likely need to make some adjustments to your home, whether it be adding a ramp to bypass stairs, adding grip bars in the bathroom or moving dining ware to a more senior-friendly cabinet in your home so that they are not having to reach anything down off of high shelves. It is important to ask for help in making these changes to your home, but it is also important to ask other family members, perhaps siblings to help out when available.
Asking your parents to downsize from their current home to move into your home, is logical, but keep in mind, they may have been at their current residence for decades. Take the time to go through things that they absolutely must bring with them, and then if they are not ready to get rid of some items, it would be wise to rent a storage space. To ease the load in regard to packing, loading, shipping, unloading, and unpacking, it would be wise to hire a Tucson moving service. They can either provide full service, in which case you would just hire them to come in on day one and pack everything up, unpack at your home and then ta-da – move completed. Your parent may feel more comfortable having you pack their belongings as you go through them and then hire movers in Tucson to come load and unload. The last option would be to hire a truck driver from a moving company in Tucson to bring a truck to your parents’ home and then drive it to your residence, while you and your family take care or packing, loading, and unloading by yourselves.
Keep in mind when considering your moving options that you will have other things to contend with such as possibly selling a house, upgrading your home, emotions from your loved ones, as well as yourself, updating your parents’ important paperwork to reflect their new address, including but not limited to medical records, DMV, social security, Medicare, etc. Anything that you can do to lessen the load of moving a loved one is advisable. If you would like to speak to a moving specialist, please feel free to reach out to us anytime!
