Most older adults dream of a day when they are done working and able to live their life on their schedule. Your dad’s retired, but what do you know of his goals as he ages? Is he going to sit around his home or does he dream of staying active? What happens if aging in place becomes a struggle? Will your dad be able to stay in his home? The answer is yes, he could arrange senior home care services to aid his desire to live independently.
It’s important to ask your dad about his plans as he ages. If he wants to downsize, it’s important to consider where he’d want to go and start getting his home in shape now. You might want to buy the family home and have him move into your starter home instead, or you might want to sell it and put the equity in a savings account.
Now that you’ve considered that, it’s time to consider the thing that many families fail to consider and that is if he needs extra care.
What Is Senior Home Care?
Senior home care is one of the best ways to support your dad’s desire to maintain his independence. Caregivers come to your dad’s home to help him with the things he has a harder time doing on his own.
Caregivers can help your dad keep his home clean and organized. They’ll wash dishes, vacuum carpets, and make his bed. Once a week, they can strip his bed, put on clean sheets, and change his towels. The dirty clothes and linens are loaded into the washing machine and washed.
His caregivers can take out the trash and recycling when needed and make sure the bins are at the curb for weekly or twice-monthly pick-up services. He might need someone to help him wash and sort his recyclable containers. That’s possible.
Your dad’s caregiver can cook his meals, plan a weekly menu with him, and take him shopping. His caregiver will load the bags into the trunk of his car and carry everything in. If he has other errands to run, they can do those together.
He may simply want to have a caregiver stopping by to provide companionship a few days a week. This is especially important if he lives alone and doesn’t have a neighbor, family, or friends nearby who can check on him each day.
How Do You Get Started?
Now that you understand all of the services that home care offers, it’s time to get started. The first step is to call a specialist in senior home care and ask any questions you or your dad have. If anything is unclear, ask for clarification.
Discuss prices and the services that your dad needs the most. After that, you can get your dad on the schedule and have senior home care aides helping him out.