Making the decision to seek out additional care for our parents is never an easy task. People often doubt themselves because they don’t know how to tell if “it’s time”. Enter A Place for Mom, Inc. (APFM) - North America's largest senior living referral service.
APFM recently launched Caregiver Toolkit - a comprehensive resource containing 75 pages of educational guides, checklists, tools and worksheets to help families as they learn and plan for senior care. The Caregiver Toolkit serves as a guidebook for families to discuss health and care issues and start the process of planning for senior care.
Jennifer Mellet, Chief Senior Living Advisor at APFM advises that a visit to a parent's home a great opportunity for adult children to proactively look for signs indicating safety and health issues that may affect their parents' quality of life and ability to live independently.
APFM offers five easy ways to assess a family member’s safety and well-being:
Take stock of their home. Look for stacks of unopened mail and piles of laundry. Does the home appear reasonably clean and tidy, or is there unusual clutter?
Check the fridge. Is there outdated or spoiled food that might indicate an inability to go to the grocery store or market?
Check the cabinets. Are there misplaced items like cleaning supplies in the food pantry, or expired prescriptions in the medicine cabinet?
Assess your loved one's appearance. Are mom and dad well groomed, do you notice any significant weight loss or gain?
Watch your loved one. Are they able to hear well, follow conversations and recognize other family members? Do they interact equally well in an unfamiliar environment?
Download the Caregiver Toolkit for free here at APFM’s web site. If you download it, let us know what you think!