Providing Care to Aging Parents

In most cases when people get older, it gets harder and harder for them to live on their own because simple, daily activities become more and more difficult. Aging adults that require assistance getting around or doing everyday things may rely on their children (if they have them) for that type of help. However, providing care and making important health care decisions for the elderly sometimes becomes frustrating for their children involved in the process, so it is important for those care givers to learn how deal with or avoid these stressful situations. To help children of aging parents handle their growing needs, Dr. Paula Kue of Johns Hopkins Medicine composed a list of suggestions to ease decision making and regular routines. She first suggests that children talk to their elderly parents before any decisions are necessary and ask them what they expect to happen when medical treatment is needed in the future. By knowing the preferences of their parent, it may be easier for a son or daughter to decide on things like surgeries, intensive-care unit (ICU) treatments or Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, if they are required to make those choices. It is also important to discuss who the parent wants making their medical decisions for them, if they are unable to make them on their own. In this event, there will be less confusion when family members disagree about the treatment of their elderly loved one. Another suggestion Dr. Kue has for children providing care is to encourage their aging parents to get routine medical care, including screenings for cancer, heart problems and other health risks, as well as immunizations to avoid certain conditions. Pushing for these tests and preventative measures will help reduce the number of medical problems their elderly parent has, making it easier to care for them.

One of the hardest tasks for children caring for elderly parents is keeping track of their medications and making sure that all prescribed medications are being taken properly, especially when that parent is less compliant with their doctors’ orders. In some cases, elderly patients feel they do not need certain medications prescribed by their doctor and make the decision to stop taking certain medications, without consulting with anyone. When this occurs, the children of that older patient are usually the ones that have to deal with the situation, if in fact they find out about the problem. For elderly patients that are not opposed to the medications their doctors prescribe to them, it is often difficult to remember what medications to take and at what times. To keep on track with medication dosages, elderly patients often require the help of their children or care givers, who may also find this task difficult if they have no knowledge of medicine or are unable to understand the directions. To avoid problems following dosages or an elderly patient taking medications that may interfere with one another, it is important for these children to talk to their parents' doctors about any and all medications and supplements being taken. Dr. Kue’s last suggestion for children caring for an elderly parent is to get help from other members of the family, agencies that provide home health care or other services that may be able to assist their parent. By doing this, the responsibilities of caring for an aging parent will be spread out among more than one person, making it less stressful to deal with the needs of that parent. If an aging parent requires more constant care, it may be necessary to look into nursing homes in the areas surrounding the homes of that person’s children so it will be easier for them to check up on their parent. Extensive research should be done before a parent or loved one is placed in a nursing home to avoid the sometimes hazardous conditions that come along with these types of facilities. Sadly, not all nursing homes offer the best quality of care, which may result in harm to their elderly patients. If you suspect a problem in the nursing home of a loved one, please call or e-mail our nursing home attorneys. Our New York negligent security lawyers know how to help families whose loved ones have suffered injury, pain, damage or emotional trauma because of nursing home negligence. We can help you remedy the situation and get you or your loved one the compensation you deserve. We serve clients with Bronx nursing home negligence, Brooklyn nursing home negligence, Queens nursing home negligence, Nassau nursing home negligence and Suffolk nursing home negligence cases.

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