By Daneen Cline
You have been noticing changes in your mother’s behavior that have you concerned. You have started calling her a few times a day, just to make sure she is ok. You have increased your visits from once a week to every other day because you noticed that the house isn’t in the same state of cleanliness it has always been and that personal hygiene seems to be slipping as well. You know that something needs to be done about this but you have no idea what to do. Does this sound familiar? Most of us will face this situation with our parents and very few of us will know how to handle it. How do you decide what is the right amount of assistance? Maybe having someone stop in every day for a couple of hours to assist with basic housekeeping and personal care is enough, or maybe an Assisted Living Facility is the best place for mom to be. And how can you even broach this subject with your mother, who has always been very independent? And finally, can your mother afford to pay for the care she needs?
We are fortunate because we have the Internet at our disposal to help with the answers to all these questions. We type a few key words into our favorite search engine and are rewarded with hundreds of websites that will assist us with this difficult decision. Deciding which website to visit is almost as daunting as the problem that sent you to the Internet for the information. You must be aware that some information on the Internet are not telling the whole story – for this, you should consider consulting an elder law attorney.
The following websites are ones that I have used often and found helpful. They cover a variety of topics including the types of care available, government agencies and the programs they offer, and an explanation of the different types of residential settings for seniors.
http://aging.ohio.gov/services/ombudsman/regional.aspx
For more information about programs that may be available to your parent and options to pay for them, contact our office.
