It all starts with a conversation...
Taking Stock of Your Situation
Talk is cheap, but not where long-term care is concerned. An early conversation with loved ones about long-term care expectations is the single most powerful step you can take. It avoids the heartaches, misunderstandings and anger that typify long-term care decisions in a crisis.
Conversation Primer
It isn’t easy to start a conversation with a loved one about long-term care. Whether you’re talking with your parents or letting people know about your wishes, the conversation can be emotional and overwhelming. However, it is important to talk about realistic expectations, and we’ve developed a list of questions to help guide you through this difficult topic.
Questions to ask about long-term care:
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Where and how do you want to spend your retirement years?
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What are your wishes regarding long-term care?
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What role do you hope your loved ones might play?
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What role do your loved ones expect to play?
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Can a family member handle the burden of caregiving?
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If you need long-term care, what kind of setting would you prefer?
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What financial resources or insurance coverage are in place or might be put in place?
Dollars and Sense
Don’t leave the conversation without a plan. Sit down and assess your finances and compare them with your expectations. If nothing else, get everyone around the kitchen table and discuss the situation, and define the roles you want them to play to avoid misunderstandings later.
The Human Side of the Issue
First and foremost, long-term care is a very personal issue shaped as much by emotions, family dynamics and communications as it is by the fiscal concerns generally associated with these discussions. Following are some valuable article links about addressing those very real and human issues.
Sometimes it arrives as a midnight crisis; for others, caring for an ailing loved one has become part of the family fabric over time...
Gail Gibson Hunt, who directs the National Alliance for Caregiving(NAC) in Washington, D.C., admonishes that caregiving is not a pathology. Even though caregivers do experience stress levels higher than those in the general community; and even though they often report painful emotional, physical, social, and financial challenges, most still express great satisfaction in being called to care...
Many middle-aged and older women caregivers say they would take better care of themselves if only they had enough energy. Fatigue is a common complaint; it usually arises because caregivers are embarrassed or unwilling to ask for help. It also comes about because of a lack of awareness of the wealth of home-based elder care services that exist in every community...
