Biggest challenge of caregiving may be “acceptance”
April 14, 2011
As parents age, there may come a time when they require day-to-day assistance from adult children. Whether a health condition prompts them to move in with a family or requires multiple visits each week by a loved one, this is a startling role reversal that can take everyone by surprise.
“The biggest challenge for everyone is acceptance,” expert John Hanafee told HealthNewsDigest.com. “Parents must accept they have arrived at a certain stage in life where they need help and children must be firm and honest in talking with their parents.”
He explained that, in his situation, he managed to encourage his parents to invest in a medical alarm system for their house. This proved to be a compromise for the family, because his mother and father were allowed privacy and independence, but were ultimately made safer.
Personal emergency response medical alert systems are innovative devices that can help any senior who is living alone, because they allow older adults to contact a call center if they need immediate assistance.
James Hanafee, John’s father, told the news source that he likes that the medical alarms he and his wife are using makes them feel safer and their children feel better, knowing that they will be alerted if there’s an emergency.
