We love our parents, and we want what’s best for them. When they reach the time that they can no longer live safely on their own, we face a sensitive dilemma: should we care for our parents at home or move them into an assisted living facility?
Perhaps your father has recently passed away, and your mother doesn’t feel comfortable living on her own. Maybe your parent recently had a fall, has general trouble getting around, or no longer drives. Whatever the reason, it’s time to make a choice about what living option is best for your parent.
Many adult children feel it is their duty to take their parents into their home. This is a wonderful sentiment, and in many cases this can be a great choice for the parent. This arrangement provides them with the companionship of loved ones. It can also be a great financial help to share expenses, especially for an older person who is only collecting a small amount of social security.
Some parents can live with their adult children for years. It especially works well if the parent is still able to take care of themselves without too much support or supervision or if the child has the time to provide the necessary care.
Unfortunately, in some cases, bringing a parent home can be a big challenge to adult children. If a parent suffers from dementia, balance issues, or other difficulties performing basic activities of daily living like bathing, dressing and toileting, they will require close supervision and daily care. Adult children who work outside the home or have young children of their own may find that they are not able to give their parent the care and support that he or she needs.
In other cases, a parent may successfully live in the home of an adult child for years, until mental or physical decline becomes too much for the adult child to handle.
In situations such where in-home care is no longer practical, it is in the best interest of the adult children and parent to transfer the parent to an assisted living care facility that can provide the type of support that the parent needs. Throughout San Diego there are many nursing homes and board and care homes that provide advanced care for seniors in significant physical and mental decline. Many of these facilities are staffed by medical personnel who will provide your parent with high quality care.
It may be difficult for an adult child to admit that caring for an aging parent has become too hard or too stressful. Don’t feel bad. You are not letting your parent down, and transferring them to an assisted care facility doesn’t mean you love them any less. It means that you want them to get the full support and care they deserve. Give Care Placement a call at (619) 660-8814 to schedule a free and confidential consultation with one of our placement specialists.