Parenting Your Parent

Article submitted by Dana L. Schilling Marketing Director of Caregiver Comfort Keepers.
For more information, she can be reached at 210-684-7080.

Community Resources...Getting the Help You Need!

Finding assistance for your aging parents can be quite time consuming. With our parents living longer, children of aging parents are faced with making difficult decisions about how to care for their parents and are seeking information to help their parents live the highest quality of life obtainable.

Some frequently asked questions are: Is there an agency that can assist with getting mom or dad help with prescriptions? Mom/Dad fell and broke their hip and is being discharged home, what do we as a family do? Does Mom/Dad have advanced directives? Where can I find some time to help Mom/Dad while I go back to work? What is Long Term Care Insurance? These are only some of the questions asked by today's baby boomers caring for their aging parents.

Several companies have recognized a need to help provide information and support to individuals in San Antonio and the surrounding area. They have joined a nationwide non-profit support agency called Children of Aging Parents (CAPS). The purpose of CAPS is to assist children caring for their elderly parents by providing information, referrals and support and to assist them in managing the changes in the family dynamics.

Along with the support groups in and around San Antonio, Oak Hills Church will be hosting Jim Comer, author of Parenting Your Parent on September 9, 2006. In 1996 Jim Comer moved back to Texas and made the transition from child to parent of his parents. His father had suffered a stroke and his mother had beginning Alzheimer's. Jim chronicles the ups and downs of becoming an overnight parent in this heartwarming, often humorous talk, filled with practical insights for those who face similar challenges.

Some topics Jim will cover include:

• Dealing with denial and asking the hard questions that parents - and children - don't want to discuss.
• Keeping a sense of humor and perspective.
• Finding a geriatric care manager or home health agency that can help parents get the care then need at home
• Getting the legal documents every family must have --- wills, powers of attorney and advanced directives.
• Learning about long-term care insurance: can your parents can qualify for it and afford the premiums?
• Finding an ethical elder law attorney to help plan for their estate

Following this engagement, a workshop will be conducted at Park Hills Baptist Church on September 30, 2006. Speakers will present 30 minute seminars on a variety of topics relevant to challenges faced today by children caring for their aging loved ones. During this event individuals will have the opportunity to gather additional information from organizations on resources available within the community and the various ways to assist their loved ones. Both of these venues are free to the public.

Whether your parents are next door or in another town, you will need information, resources and support to help care for them. For more information about local support groups and about the event and the community resource fair please visit the CAPS website at www.caps4caregivers.org. or call Yolanda at Vitas 210-348-4000.