Keeping Your Family Member Safe
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Keeping Your Family Member Safe

Are you worried about the safety of a dear family member who lives alone? Perhaps, your elderly mother has started falling frequently. Or, your older father might sometimes forget to take his medicine. If you can relate to either one of these worrisome situations, consider moving your senior relative into a nursing home. If your loved one doesn’t need round-the-clock care, you might wish to put him or her in an assisted living facility. Staying at this type of facility can provide a family member with a sense of independence. On this blog, I hope you will discover valuable tips to help you move an aging loved one into a nursing home or assisted living facility. Enjoy!

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Keeping Your Family Member Safe

The Sibling Care Approach: Tips For Working Together To Care For An Aging Parent

Debbie Rodriguez

Adult siblings who are faced with watching their elderly parents grow older and less capable of handling their daily tasks. Siblings often must work together to try to find a good solution for their care. But all too often, one or more siblings in this situation will end up feeling like the work load is not evenly distributed.

Tensions build and tempers flare and the end goal of providing loving care for aging parents becomes even more difficult to achieve. If you are one of a family of siblings that will need to share in this type of care arrangement, either now or in the future, here are some proactive tips to help you succeed. 

Start with a written agreement

Holding discussions and brainstorming sessions is a great idea, but the final agreement between siblings for the care of aging parents should always be finalized with a written document that everyone agrees with and signs. While not a legally binding agreement, this type of simple document will help remind each sibling of their agreement and assist in solving disputes when they arise. This document should include a division of tasks, as well as the amount of money and time that each sibling is agreeing to contribute. 

Insist on fair, transparent financial decisions

If there will be costs incurred for the care of your parents, it is important to try and divide them as equally as possible. Some suggestions for doing this include:

  • having each sibling contribute a small amount to create a fund for unforeseen miscellaneous expenses that may occur
  • agreeing that all substantial purchases and expenses will be discussed and agreed upon beforehand 
  • agreeing to having mutual oversight of any financial transaction to ensure that transparency 

If the parents have sufficient funds to pay for their own care needs, having mutual oversight and a periodic review of their accounts by all siblings is an excellent way to avoid painful arguments about money management that frequently occur between siblings who are sharing the care of elderly parents. 

Know when to ask for outside help

Helping your elderly loved one more easily navigate their senior years can require more than just the time and attention of you and your siblings. By contacting a senior healthcare services representative in your area or visiting their a healthcare website like http://www.seniorsolutionsofli.com, you can learn more about available options for home care services, medicaid assistance, and nursing home care to make the situation as manageable as possible. 


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