You only want the best for your elderly loved one. Their health and well-being is your top concern. However, if you live long distance, you may be presented with many challenges in staying active in their care. Although you may be feeling helpless, here are some ways you can remain actively involved:

Assist with Finances

Sometimes it’s necessary for someone to take on the task of managing an elderly person’s finances, especially if they can no longer tend to it themselves. Here’s what you can help with to ensure that there are no financial setbacks:

• Timely Pay Bills
• Budgeting and money management
• Balancing bank accounts
• Estate planning

Communication

Whether your elderly loved one lives in an assisted living community or has an in-home caregiver, communication is key to ensure that they are getting the best care possible. Foster good communication by doing these things:

• Hold family meetings to keep everyone updated on new changes in care
• Keep a journal – list doctor appointments, medications and other important things to record and share with caregiver and family members
• Ask the caregiver questions – learn about any changes in behavior or feelings
• Ask the caregiver about participation in outings and activities

Create an Emergency Plan

Should an emergency situation arise involving your elderly loved one, you don’t want to have to struggle to find paperwork and necessary documents. Floundering to find important documents will only add more tension to an already stressful situation. Here’s how to keep vital papers in order:

• Set up a digital file for critical documents. Give access to other family members who may also need this information. You can also save documents on a flash drive.
• Set up a file specifically for papers that pertain to your elderly loved one’s care and separate with folders. For example, create separate folders for healthcare, insurance, banking, etc.
• Discuss an emergency plan of action with all involved family members.

Call and Visit

Life gets busy, and sometimes we get caught up in our own everyday tasks that we may not call or visit as often as we should. Schedule call times and plan trips to visit your loved one as often as you possibly can. Not only will staying in touch help you gauge and monitor their level of care, you will also give your senior loved one something to look forward to.

The Arbors Assisted Living is a community that encourages family members and other caretakers to be involved in their senior loved one’s care. Our goal is to help enhance the quality of life for our residents. Contact us for more information on how we can help assist you with the care of your elderly loved one.