At any time over the recent holiday season did you have a reason to believe that Mom or Dad might be struggling due to age-related limitations or health issues? Does anything stand out as being odd, or does any of their behavior seem slightly “off” to you? Perhaps your parents’ house seemed messier than normal, or Mom seemed to have become a bit forgetful. Perhaps you found yourself discussing their changes in behavior with your siblings, asking questions like, “Why is Mom acting so strange? Do you think Dad is okay?”
People often sense when something just doesn’t seem right with an aging parent, but do not know what to do about it. There are many circumstantial, personal and environmental factors that come into play when assessing your aging parents’ health and living situation. This is a very difficult conversation to have with family members and questioning your loved ones’ condition can be stressful, even daunting at times.
Compassionate Home Care Partners of Polk County can help identify, make recommendations and be in-home companion support to help reduce the stress and worry while allowing you or your loved one to live life to the fullest in their own home.
It is natural for us to rationalize behaviors that strike us as being out of character. You may tell yourself things such as, “Mom is just tired from all of the holiday excitement,” and “Dad’s clothes are wrinkled and messy because they didn’t have time to do the laundry this week.”
“It is common to ignore some of the common signs that your aging loved one might need an easier to miss the signs,” said Dr. Catherine Onuoha of Compassionate Home Care Partners of Polk County Florida.
If you have had any of these concern, it is best to trust your intuition. If something seems “off” about your aging loved one, it’s a good idea to take a closer look. Use the Compassionate Home Care Partners Senior Checklist to guide you in considering whether your loved one may need assistance at home.
Signs that an aging parent may need additional assistance:
- Changed eating habits, resulting in losing weight, having no appetite, or missing meals.
- Neglected personal hygiene, including wearing dirty clothes and having body odor, bad breath, neglected nails and teeth, or sores on the skin.
- Neglected their home, with a noticeable change in cleanliness and sanitation.
- Exhibited inappropriate behavior, such as being unusually loud, quiet, paranoid, or agitated, or making phone calls at all hours.
- Changed relationship patterns, causing friends and neighbors to express concerns.
- Decreased or stopped participating in activities that were once important to them, such as bridge or a book club, dining with friends, or attending religious services.
- Exhibited forgetfulness, resulting in unopened mail, piling of newspapers, not filling their prescriptions, or missing appointments.
- Mishandled finances, such as not paying bills, losing money, paying bills twice or more, or hiding money.
- Made unusual purchases, such as buying more than one subscription to the same magazine, entering an unusually large number of contests, or increasing purchases from television advertisements.
What to Do Now
Contrary to popular belief, the aging process is not always a dramatic and obvious period of mental decline and physical deterioration. The danger in viewing aging as “doom and gloom” is that people tend to overlook concerns and potential red flags that may appear in more subtle ways.
“Everything seems harder, heavier, steeper and farther away to most seniors. Whether due to natural aging, illness or injury, some older people simply need assistance in order to comfortably and safely remain in their home,” Dr. Catherine Onuoha said.
Our checklist helps you and your siblings know what to look for so that you can start an open discussion about how to keep your loved one at home, maintaining their independence.
Hiring an in-home caregiver can ensure that your loved one receives the daily care they need. A little extra help with housework, cooking, errands may be all that is needed, or a more intensive care plan that include personal care might be in order. Whatever the needs, in-home caregivers can be the solution to keeping your loved one happy, healthy, at home and allow you to focus on your relationship while reducing the burden and stress that often overwhelms families.
Compassionate Home Care Partners of Polk County Florida offers a complete continuum of home healthcare services, similar to the care and support often provided by family members. Services include non-medical care, companionship, personal care* and medical services*. Our flexible care plans are tailored to fit our clients’ specific needs and budgets. To learn more about Compassionate Home Care Partners and get answers to your question call us at (863) 271-7776.
