We all know home is where the heart is. So it makes perfect sense when our older relatives want to carry on living in the comfort and familiar surroundings of their own home.
But the thought of your parent, grandparent, or another relative living at home, maybe on their own, can be daunting and even frightening. People worry about their relatives struggling to complete daily tasks such as housecleaning, personal grooming, or managing their medication.
Naturally, most older people don’t want to go into a nursing home unless they have to, and you just want them to be happy and safe. So what are your other options?
In-home care can provide high-quality care and support to assist your relative to live happily and confidently at home. In-home care can also help ease the concerns of family members who are worried about their parent, grandparent or other older relative living independently.
Kicking off the conversation about aged care
Bringing up the subject of in-home care with an older relative can be tough for many of us, but it’s an important discussion to have.
Having the conversation early, before something goes wrong like a fall or medical emergency, can make a world of difference to your family. It’s best to have the early conversations about aged care before there’s a problem so that everyone can be calm and relaxed.
Getting the right in-home care in place early could prevent a mishap from happening in the first place, and it will give you the opportunity to build relationships with the caregivers. A good way to start is to get occasional care, such as housekeeping or meal preparation.
This gives your relative the opportunity to get more comfortable with the idea of receiving care and help them to feel more confident about living independently in the future. They will also get used to small changes to their routine and start to develop a trusting relationship with their caregiver before the bigger changes occur.
Knowing when you really need to consider in-home care and ways for bringing up the early conversation can help you cope with this family hurdle.
Tips for having the conversation
We know having the conversation about aged care isn’t easy, so here are some tips to help you get started:
- Choose a time a place where everyone feels comfortable
- Talk about their plans and goals for where they want to live in the future
- Make sure they know you’re here to support them
- Talk about what they need help with and what they may need help with in the future
- Try not to focus on what they can’t do, but what could be possible with the right support
- Let them know they can live in their own home for as long as possible with the right in-home care
We can help
At Absolute Care & Health, we provide a wide range of in-home care services to suit your family’s needs. Whether you need help around the house, personal care, respite care, or after hospital care, we can help.
What makes us different is that all our services are completely tailored to your relative. We get to know them as an individual so we can provide in-home care in the way that suits them best. We also pair them a caregiver who matches their personality.
If having an early conversation about aged care is on your ‘to do’ list, download our brochure for more tips and information. It’s a handy resource that can help you navigate your family to embracing all the benefits of in-home care.
Download our brochure for more information or call us on 03 9827 8899 to talk about your options.
