Keeping Your Loved One Out Of A Nursing Home
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In an article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, Karen Ravin provides some helpful information for those of us who have aging parents or loved ones. As Ms. Ravin correctly points out: Our desire for our loved ones to be safe (possibly in an assisted living facility or nursing home) must compete against our loved one's desire for independence. Ms. Ravin has some great ideas in ensuring the "competition" between these two forces can still result in our loved one living at home. Here are a few recommendations:
- Hire an occupational therapist to perform a safety assessment of the home. This will ensure that things which we may never think of as being a danger, such as throw rugs or slippery shower floors, are addressed. Remember...an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
- Stay connected. As I have talked about before, regular phone calls or visits to your loved one are invaluable. If hearing or sight is impaired, you can look into getting a phone with amplified speakers or large buttons to dial.
- Food. Sure, we presume our loved ones are eating properly because they tell us they are, right? Well, that may not be the case. If food and nutrition are a concern, look into having a program like Meals on Wheels deliver to the house. In the Treasure Valley, Elks Meals on Wheels provides such a service.
- Housekeeping/chores. Let's face it: there are few, if any, people who really enjoy housekeeping and/or chores. If it will help your loved one maintain their independence, why not look into hiring professional help for this? It certainly does not have to be an every-day sort of thing...perhaps a few times a week is all that is needed.
- Take care of yourself. According to Myra Hyatt, a specialist clinical social worker at the Landon Center on Aging at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, caring for a loved one can just flat wear you down. "You can become isolated yourself and find yourself thinking, 'I want my life back.'" That's where a support group can help you continue to live your life while helping your loved one maintain his or her independence.
Of course, this list is not the be-all-end-all to resources. In fact, if you have some other ideas, please share them with me. I will, in turn, share them with my readers. After all, we want the picture above to remain true with our loved one maintaining her or his independence.
