The title does not say everything…
My parents are getting older… by the minute… They are 75 and 70 years old.
But really, there is going to be a day when I have to take care of them. So, what can I do yo prepare for that day. I feel that I have about 5 years to prepare for thier advanced age to begin to catch up with them. So, how do you go about doing this.
any help is appreciated
Ficer67
This may be more suited for IMHO, but I’ll give a couple of my opinions anyway.
A lot depends on how independent and how healthy your parents are right now, and what their financial resources are.
Seventy and 75, or 75 and 80, are not all that old these days. Many folks live well beyond that and do quite well by themselves. Why do you think that in 5 years there will be a problem? You and I are getting older by the minute, too! Also, you can only *suggest * changes; as long as they are mentally sound, it is their choice what they do with the rest of their lives.
You should talk about this with your parents. Ask them what they would want if they became unable to care for themselves. What will they do when they are no longer able to drive, for example? Also be prepared for the fact that many older folks, at the slightest suggestion of not remaining independent, in their own home, will jump to the conclusion, “Oh, my God! They want to put me in a nursing home!” Many have (in some cases with justification) a horror of these places, and have heard ghastly stories about how awful they are. Many men, especially, are extremely resistant to any possibility of losing control. They hope and believe that their younger wife will outlive them, and will take care of them until the end. This is all very well, except that sometimes the wife is also in need, or cannot do the things that he needs.
Look into Continuing Care Retirement communities. You get your own little house or apartment and live in it as usual. Many have community dining rooms so that you can “eat out” if you don’t feel like cooking. The extra part is, if you injure yourself, or become ill, there is an assisted living component where you will get more care. If/When you recover sufficiently, you go back to your own place. If not, you can move into to AL component, which is also your own place with your own stuff, but there are people to help you with your daily needs. If you become completely unable to care for yourself, there is a long-term care component.
Here’s a site: http://www.helpguide.org/elder/continuing_care_retirement_communities.htm with some information. If you google Continuing Care Community you’ll get a list of other informational sites.
My sister and I did a lot of investigation several years ago when our widowed father was becoming less and less able to care for himself adequately. We found a number of Continuing Care communities that we thought were pretty nice, and took him to see them, but to no avail. He was adamant that he would stay in his own house and nothing that we, or his doctors, could say would convince him otherwise.