BackWhen the Torch Is Passed and the Child Cares for the Parent
Article submitted by Paula K Goblet RN BSBA, Director of Care ByDesign.
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Many of us can already relate to the moment of recognition when we realize that our beloved parents have begun to struggle with the tasks of everyday living. Mom is forgetting to take her medicine. Dad isn't able to manage the choirs he always enjoyed. Or perhaps an event even more frightening, like a kitchen fire because a pot was left unattended, has occurred.
Between 1990 and 2000, Arizona's population expanded by forty-percent, with the number of people over the age of 85 increased by more than eighty-percent. When the leading edge of the 77 million Baby Boomers will reach age 65 in 2010, there will be more elders than teenagers in the United States and the challenges of managing the late life needs of parents everywhere will face every family. The needs of today will be completely overwhelmed by those of tomorrow.
It seems that with every passing day, the number of phone calls increase, the calls of panic, frustration, or despair. "Please help me. I've never done this before, and I don't know what to do, or where to go. Can you help me?" These pleas are from adult children (the Sandwich Generation) trying to figure out how to help their Mom, Dad, or both. "They are totally unrealistic! They need so much help and they want to stay in their own home."
Busy lives, somehow balancing the ever-growing demands of children, career, marriage, friendships, and now the extraordinary needs of parents facing loss of independence and autonomy. Solutions rarely come with ease. That parents are meant to nurture and provide for their children is assumed. Mom always knew just what to say to make tears go away. Daddy's hugs never failed to make us beam. Where in the book of life do we learn how to care for the people who always had all of the answers?
The universal desire is the means by which we can live in the home of our choice, for the entirety of our life. When normative effects of aging, chronic conditions, or a catastrophic illness challenge our autonomy, the dream of independent living is threatened.
The best approach to provide the most reasonable response can come from the assistance of a Home Care Agency, an organization dedicated to helping families and individuals help themselves. At Care By Design, we pride ourselves on becoming a member of your family, devoted to providing the answers you need, and the support you deserve.
Please contact us to learn how we can help you manage to provide for the quality of life we all desire and require. Let us help you or your loved ones stay in the home of your choice.