Many boomers are now caring for their aging parents.  Baby boomers are looking for alternatives to facility placement.  They have also begun to discover in-home care as an affordable alternative to Assisted Living facilities and Skilled Nursing Facilities.  Many are still in the work force and are also providing some care to their ailing parent.  Professional caregivers help fill in the gaps in personal care. 

A study in 2006 followed 333 families, the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology reports that baby boomers are more committed to caring for their parents than were their own mothers and fathers.

Boomers see the many advantages of aging at home and they are likely to choose in-home care for themselves when the time comes to make those decisions.  This means baby boomers will have to rely more on home health agencies for their in-home care needs.

In-Home Care is rapidly becoming the most commonly asked for service among the aging population. It involves a network of service providers who deliver personal care and maintenance to the home. These service providers handle routine tasks including light housekeeping, meal preparation, running errands, mail sorting and much more. They can also provide assistance with personal care such as bathing, dressing, incontinence care and safe transfers.

Here are a few advantages:

·        You don’t have to sell your home, downsize, pack, or move

·        The plan of care and/or assistance is personalized to the client’s needs, and is provided by consistent caregivers that the client gets to know and trust.

·        People often are healthier and happier and recover faster at home.

·        You enjoy the comfort of living at home - sleep in your bed, lounge on your couch, use your bathroom for bathing and personal care, eat at your dining room table, etc.

·        You are surrounded by your own pictures, furniture, scents, music, backyard, etc. Groceries, snacks, and meals are what the client wants, prepared how the client wants, when the client wants them.

·        You maintain the privacy that comes with being in your own home.

·        You live life the way you want rather than following the rules of the facility (quiet hours, when to eat, what is served for dinner, time for social activities, type of social activities, time for exercise, what chair is open to sit in, when you get your hair done, when you take a bath, etc.)

·        You choose the social outings or activities that you want to partake in and you choose when you want to do them.

·        You can continue doing the things you love to do at home or out in your community. Also, you can continue entertaining your family and friends in your own home. For some people, social life is better at home than in assisted living facilities.

·        You have a personal driver to run errands, go on social outings, get to doctor appointments – this is not the case in assisted living and nursing home facilities.

·        Caregivers for home care generally have undergone background checks beyond what is required by the state.

·        All caregivers have passed background and reference checks, as well as skills testing.

If you’re fortunate enough to have one or both parents living, you may have noticed a role reversal taking place in your relationship. Remember the days when mom shuttled you to the doctor whenever you were sick? Now, it may be you who’s driving her to her medical appointments. The following six recommendations will help you understand what may be happening to your parents as they age – and what you can do to help.

1.      Stay vigilant to sudden changes.       

Your elderly father who becomes confused one week but was alert and oriented the week before, or becomes unsteady walking and starts falling, is likely experiencing an acute problem – an infection, medication side effect, or perhaps, a heart attack or stroke.

2.      Investigate the source of gradual decline.

A host of conditions can cause gradual decline. Recognize that your parent may be experiencing an altogether different problem: a vitamin B12 deficiency, an underactive thyroid, Parkinson’s disease or depression, to name a few.

3.      Know thy parent’s medicine cabinet.

Familiarize yourself with the medications your parent takes: what each one is for and how often he takes them. Make sure you notify each doctor your parent visits of all the medicine he takes, including over-the-counter products.

4.      Discourage ageist attitudes.

Simply put, ageism is prejudice against the elderly. It exists in many forms but can be particularly damaging to an older person’s self-esteem when it assumes that all of her woes are age-related.

5.      Address not just symptoms—but emotions.

There is disease and then there is “dis-ease” – this can manifest itself as myriad emotions in an elderly person: fear, grief, boredom, embarrassment and sadness among them. The fact is, these emotions can be every bit as debilitating as a disease.

6.      Strive to maximize your parent’s quality of life.

No matter our age, we all want to enjoy life to the fullest and have the capability to do the things we want to.

About Homewatch CareGivers
Founded in 1980, Homewatch CareGivers is the largest, most experienced international provider of full-service in-home care for people of all ages, including seniors, children, veterans, the chronically ill, and those recovering from medical procedures. Homewatch CareGivers Serving Jacksonville is a licensed and accredited Home Health Agency.  "In becoming accredited, Homewatch CareGivers Serving Jacksonville was evaluated against a set of national standards by a Joint Commission surveyor experienced in the delivery of home care services," says Debra Zak, Ph.D., RN, L.A.C., executive director, Home Care Accreditation, The Joint Commission.  "Achieving accreditation demonstrates Homewatch CareGiver’s commitment to provide high quality and safe care to its patients."Caregivers are triple-screened and continually trained and supervised by healthcare professionals to provide reliable, compassionate, and highly skilled services in companion, personal and comprehensive care. Services include companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, grocery shopping, transportation, laundry, recreational activities, personal care (bathing, dressing, toileting) and technology products by Healthcom.   In Northeast Florida call (904) 240-1100 or visit www.homecarejax.com .