Six Strategies for Transforming the Emotional and Financial Future of Your Aging Parents

The complex and challenging role of caring for an elderly parent is not made any easier by the many myths that surround eldercare. One of the most persistent and prevalent says "Older people are ignored by their family members and have to rely on outside services or hired help to provide them with care." The misconception is that in the "Good Old Days", aging parents and grand-parents either lived nearby, or when they needed care they simply moved in with younger family members.

Unlike the myth, the harsh reality of the "Good Old Days" is that we didn't have many elders because life expectancy was much shorter. In 1935 when Social Security first became available to help support people in the old age,life expectancy was 66. In other words, most of those eligible for Social Security were not expected to live long enough to use much of it.

Today the fastest growing segment of our population are those over age 85.

And, contrary to the myth that today's families don't care as much for their elders, the fact is just the opposite: Family members, including spouses, sons, daughters, in-laws, and grandchildren, provide the majority of care to their older relatives. Neighbors and friends also provide care, especially during emergencies.

While some may choose to move to an Assisted Living facility or to a nursing home to receive the care they need when they can no longer manage on their own, most older Americans want to live out their lives in their own homes. With the right kind of help - nursing services, home health aides and someone to help with errands, housekeeping and yard work, they can do so. The trouble with that, however, is that while services are available, especially for those who can pay for them, finding them usually means cutting through miles of red tape.

When the long distance caregiver tries to contact local social service or health care agencies for help they discover that, while the population of frail older persons is growing steadily, the care and services available for them is shrinking rapidly, as states find that services to the elderly are consuming a large part of already stretched budgets.

If You Are The Many Who Have To Care For Aging Parents, Here Is One Book You Should Read. It's reviewed by Norm Goldman, Editor and Publisher of Bookpleasures .com
here is a brief excerpt. You can read the full review at the following link http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=24233

"We hear so much about caring for aging parents these days that at times it feels that children are in a no win situation. Care-giving involves making difficult decisions which should be handled with as much thought and discussion as possible."

"Daniel Taylor,president of his own North Carolina-based advisory firmTaylor has put together an excellent guide book, The Parent Care Conversation: Six Strategies for Transforming the Emotional and Financial Future of Your Aging Parents where he presents a system that he developed that grew out of his own experiences in dealing with his father’s care. It is a system he has structured around the acronym CARE which stands for the following: challenges, alternatives, resources, and experience."

This system will aid children in opening up the doors of communication with their parents on key issues relating to their future care-even those which they were reluctant to discuss. According to Taylor, the CARE “hear and now" listening system focuses on the knack of asking the right questions now in order to avoid confusion and conflict in the future from chaotic decision making."

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=24233