Elder Father Recognizing Need for a Home Care Aide

Recognizing need for Home Care is an important step to accepting some in-home assistance. Following back problems and having his daughter stay with him, an older parent recognizes the inconvenience to his daughter and her family. He decides that the next time he needs help at home for a health reason; he will hire a home care aide.

Between denial and the newness of requiring help following a medical situation or a fall, older adults and family members don’t always recognize need help when the need for help is evident. Caring for an adult is a lot more difficult than caring for a child. It is also more complicated than most imagine. Since there is a monetary cost involved, many people figure they can manage on their own or truly do not recognize that they aren’t fully recovered and are in fact at risk of further harm.

It is an “aha” moment  when an aging parent realizes that a well-meaning adult son or daughter has many other obligations, may not be physically capable or emotionally ready to assist a parent with physical care or accepts that help is needed.  Usually experience is the best teacher and this video shows how a father recognizes that although his daughter means well and wants to help, the better solution is to hire an aide who is a trained caregiver. This allows their relationship to shift back to a more natural one and provides the safety from additional falls or accidents.  Whether short term or long term care is needed, another set of experienced hands are a big help. Certainly when the elder parent has Long Term Care insurance, it makes more sense to use a certified aide to assist with the Activities of Daily Living and other household tasks. After all, this is the time when you ought to use your policy.