What To Do When Your Elderly Parents Are Moving In
Inevitably, there will come a time when your parents are no longer able to take care of themselves as they once could, and you’ll have to make a decision that will not only affect you, but your entire family. While this can be a heavy burden to bear, providing additional care for elderly parents is something that most people will have to face at some point in their lives.
In this article, we’ll discuss the different options you have for managing your elderly parents, things you should consider, how to talk to aging parents about moving, and also options for moving and storage.
Assess your options.
While every individual situation will be entirely unique depending on health, finances, living arrangements, etc. There are a number of options you and your family should consider when the time comes to assess your elderly parents living situation.
Assisted Living
Assisted living is essentially a community of homes designed with seniors in mind. It still allows your parents to ‘live on their own’ but be amongst their peers and have better access to help or support from staff members should they need it. Ideally in this instance your parents still have some ability to manage their day-to-day life.
Nursing / Retirement Home
Nursing or retirement homes are what most people think of when talking about what to do with aging or elderly parents. These facilities are almost like apartment buildings where residents will have their own room(s) but will typically have round-the-clock access to medical and support staff. Typically, these facilities are best for those who may have more serious medical conditions or require more day-to-day care.
Move in with you
Your aging parents moving in with you or another family member is another option. This way your parents will still be around their friends / family and may be less resistant to the upheaval of their life. While this may sound like the best choice for them, it will definitely be a big change for everyone involved and you should think carefully about what will be required. We’ll cover more on this in the later sections of this article.
Stay where they are
Lastly, the 4th option is to let them stay where they are. Many aging or elderly parents will refuse assisted living or nursing homes for different reasons altogether. Whether it be from them losing their independence, financial constraints, or just bad coverage in the media – it’s often a difficult subject to bring up. Should they still have the ability to perform most of their day-to-day activities or tasks, it may be simpler for everyone to look into acquiring a social worker or helper to stop by every once in a while, to assist them with chores or hard to do tasks if your elderly parent refuses assisted living.
Managing your financial obligations and benefits.
With any of the above choices there will of course be additional financial obligations. While some may be (much) more costly than others, it’s still important that both you and your parents sit down to discuss your finances together.
By understanding both theirs and your financial situations, it will become much easier to create a budget and manage expenses. Afterall, you’ll have an extra mouth or two to feed, health care, home improvements, insurance, etc. On the plus side, with your parents living in your home, you may qualify for additional benefits on your income tax by claiming your elderly parent as dependent or receive government assistance for caregivers of elderly parents in Canada.
Setting up your home.
Setting up your home can be one of the largest expenses you’ll incur when caring for elderly parents. Depending on the mobility of your parents, you may need to consider some serious upgrades immediately. It’s also important to note that even if they don’t need anything now, as they age, they may require additional upgrades such as;
- Handrails
- Walk in shower or tub
- Wheel chair ramps
- First floor bedroom / bathroom
- etc.
Moving with your elderly parents.
Now that you’re financially prepared and your home is ready to go, it’s time to start planning the big move. It’s likely that you won’t have room for all of their belongings, and it may be a cause of stress for them initially. Start by carefully packing all of their immediate belongings – think about things they will need on a daily basis – from there you can start to filter through everything.
If you do have space for all of their stuff – that’s great – but chances are you won’t. While this may be the perfect opportunity to part with some things, they may not be ready to do so. To make their transition easier, you can consider placing their extra items and furniture in a storage unit or portable storage container – that way they can retrieve them if needed, and you won’t need to clutter up your home!
Moving and storage options.
If you are planning to have them move in and still aren’t sure about what to do with their additional belongings, one of the simplest and most convenient solutions is to rent a portable storage container. Theses can be dropped off on their driveway and you and your parents can sort through and load their belongings together. This is where we can help at Go Mini’s!
Go Mini’s is an award-winning portable storage company that services all the GTA and beyond! Our portable storage and moving containers are perfect for downsizing and move-ins. We can drop the container off right at your address so that you can load it at your own pace and then either store it for you in our secure facility until you’re ready to get it back – or drop it off wherever you need it next!
To learn more about our portable containers, storage rentals, or service area, check out our website or reach out to one of our helpful representatives now!
