Blisstree » Caring.com

Here’s to many more good years

Elizabeth — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:05:59 +0000

I really enjoyed reading Sara Henry’s Toast to Aging Well about her father.

He just turned 75 and he lives far away from his daughter, and like so many sandwich generationers, she was unable to join him because her own young son was having a birthday as well.

It sounds like he has a great party planned, and I wish him many more.

Post from: Blisstree

Here’s to many more good years

Father’s Day gift for elderly dads

Elizabeth — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:11:21 +0000

With a week until Father’s Day, many people are wondering what to get the dad in their life. It can be especially hard to pick out something for an older person who doesn’t need much “stuff”.

Paula Spencer of Caring.com tells us about selecting a gift for her aging dad:

He doesn’t seem to care about gifts. (Who needs more stuff at 86?) Flowers were always welcome on Mother’s Day, but Dad would just give them to my sister-in-law (who deserves them, but that’s another point).

Read more about what she concluded regarding a Father’s Day gift.

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Father’s Day gift for elderly dads

Good things for aging parents

Elizabeth — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:55:46 +0000

Writing about aging parents and all that goes with it can sometimes become a bit morose or gloomy at best.

I try to balance that kind of stuff here with other things, but sometimes it’s hard. So, I really enjoyed reading Caring.com’s round-up of good things in the news about aging parents:

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Good things for aging parents

Question I wish I had asked

Elizabeth — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:33:26 +0000

There’s an excellent post at Caring.com by Paula Spencer.

In Questions I Wish I Had Asked Mom, Spencer brings up a good point, I wish I had asked my mother more questions about her side of things when she was dying.

It’s hard toward the end, because you are tuned into taking care of “business” and attending to physical needs.

Other than the types of questions in the article, the thing I most wish I had asked my mother was, “How do you know?” the day she told us she “had to go”.

While I fully realize that was probably none of my business, she was lucid and would have realized that had never stopped me before.

I felt a little guilty about wanting to know that until my father admitted he wished he had asked it, too.

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Question I wish I had asked

Hiring in-home care

Elizabeth — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:17:21 +0000

One of your fist steps into the world of the Sandwich Generation may be having to hire in-home assistance or care for your aging parent or relative when activities of daily living become a struggle.

In addition to navigating the world of payors you may find yourself having to hire someone to come into your parent’s home in order to provide care whether it be long term or temporary.

Often, home care falls into 3 categories: Nursing/nursing assistants, home care aides, and, “personal attendants” sometime referred to as custodial or companion care.

It can get complicated, but, whether or not insurance pays for this help mainly depends upon the patient having a “skilled care need”, i.e. something that only a licensed person (nurse or certified nursing assistant) can perform, or, their needs fall into “activities of daily living” such as eating or bathing that a home health aide can perform.

I’m here to tell you though, that companion care or “Sitter” service (safety, cooking, cleaning etc.) isn’t covered by insurance, yet, it’s often the most needed when an elder is remaining in the home with limitations.

No matter the needs of the patient, at one point you may be in the position of hiring in-home care, and, Caring.com has an excellent resource to help with hiring in-home care whether independently or through an agency.

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Hiring in-home care