Elderly care at home

Most families reach us searching for something simple: help for an aging parent at home. Elderly care, senior care, in-home care, a caregiver, a caretaker, a home attendant — different words, the same need.

What it means in practice is somebody coming into the house to help with the parts of the day that have become hard, so an older person can keep living where they want to live rather than moving into a facility.

What is included

• Help with bathing, dressing and grooming
• Meals cooked and eaten together
• Medication reminders
• Light housekeeping and laundry
• Rides to appointments and errands
• Company and conversation
• Watching for falls and changes in health
• Updates to family who live away

It is usually time when

• A parent is losing weight or skipping meals
• The house is not being kept the way it used to be
• There have been falls, or near-falls
• Bills and medications are being missed
• You are worried every time the phone rings

Start small. A few hours twice a week is enough to see how it goes, and it is far easier for an older person to accept than a sudden full-time arrangement.