Senior LifeStyle News
“An information resource for pre-retirement,
retirement
and post-post retirement planning”
The aging population will continue to place increasing responsibility on family members. Increasing longevity will continue to increase the need for eldercare and place more stress on Gerontology services and quality-of-life issues for the elderly.
What are some of the issues that affect caregivers?
· Finding time to give the necessary care for an elderly parent
· Emotional stress of considering a lifestyle care facility
· Conflicts between children, parents and personal needs
· Lack of experience and information as a caregiver
· Increased personal costs
· Lack of medical experience
· Male support as caregiver is often minimal
What are some of the emotional issues the elderly face as they age:
· Loss of self-esteem and a feeling of helplessness
· Financial devastation from long-term-care costs
· Fear of burdening family members
· No experience with aging issues
· Tough decisions for homecare or retirement community
Caregivers should realize they need information and guidance as they
become more responsible for an elderly parent or relative. It is important to realize that you may not have experience at this new life transition your family is facing. Rather than re-invent the “wheel” regarding the issue of getting help as a caregiver, we will provide you with resources for caregiver information.
Caregivers, who have a healthy parent, should encourage “healthy” parents to purchase some form of long-term-care insurance or discuss asset protection strategies so that they understand all the choices for planning to protect that older person they will someday become! If a parent is “hiding their head in the sand” the caregiver may wish to pay for long-term-care insurance for the more healthy parent in order to help them finance their future needs. This is especially important when the other parent does not have enough money to pay for their care in later years.
Elderly women are especially vulnerable to personal healthcare disasters in later years. The average income for older women is $15,615 and women are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as men (U.S. Census Bureau-USBC). Because of care giving, women spend an average of 14 years out of the workforce for family care giving. As a result of these family sacrifices, women lose approximately $2,100 annually in Social Security benefits. The other financial tragedy is that most women do not have a pension benefit to supplement their retirement income needs.
The need for education on the issues of aging is so severe that many states are beginning to consider state-wide long-term care educational programs. The U.S. government also recently initiated a national long-term care insurance program for federal employees. However, the private sector is just barely beginning to realize the importance of addressing eldercare and long-term care education.
Caregivers should continue to educate themselves on the important issues of eldercare and the quality-of-life issues revolving around their responsibilities as a caregiver. Here are a few resources that may be of help for those who face the emotional and time-consuming responsibility as a caregiver.
A good book to read is “Eldercare 911” written by Susan Beerman and Judith B. Rappaport-Musson and published by Promethens Books, New York. The suggested retail price is $24.
Also read the article on care giving in our magazine, “The Financial Learning Magazine”. (clicking here)
To check up on the quality of service provided by all 17,000 nursing homes, the government has created a web site. To check up on issues such as use of physical restraints, percent of residents with head sores and other deficiencies found during annual inspections. (click here) (www.medicare.gov/ ) or call 1-800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227).
If you need to move an elderly parent or relative and wish to engage a senior moving company, you may contact Moving With Care located in Cincinnati, Ohio. (clicking here) (www.movingwithcare.com).
When a caregiver needs help it is often difficult to find caregiver organizations. You may call the Eldercare Locater hotline at 800-677-1116.
There are a number of web sites you may wish to visit in order to gain insight into your role as a caregiver. Consider visiting one or more of these sites:
Thou Shalt Honor Care Giving (PBS), Solutions for Better Aging,
Senior Friends and Home Instead Senior Care (click here) www.homeinstead.com/resource_links.asp)
the ICA information hotline at (800) 800-5720 or email us at
For additional information, click here.