New Book Gives Advice for Family-Managed Senior Care
If you’re thinking about caring for an elderly parent yourself, you may be interested in a new book that’s just hit shelves. It’s called Who Will Take Care of Mom? A Guide for Family-Managed Senior Care.
The St. Louis Beacon interviewed the author, Cynthia Wilson, who’s cared for her mother for 13 years. She calls her mother’s care “family-managed.”
Family-managed care is the right option, she says, if family members share common views about how best to meet the health needs of the parent.
“Family-managed care means that you support the person who is coordinating the care or doing the care. It works if someone in the family stands up and takes control. Often, someone is willing to do it, and others might be willing to let them do it.”
What family-managed care doesn’t mean is going it alone. In Wilson’s situation, for example, an in-home care aide helps every morning and afternoon.
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Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance writer who specializes in health and aging issues. She covers finding and paying for senior care for OurParents. If you have any questions about this post or need help finding senior-care options for a loved one, call 1-866-483-4896 to speak with a care advisor in your area.
I hope Cynthia and her husband will own extended care plans. What she did for her mother is noble and wonderful — taking care of a loved one.
Many families for a variety of reasons are fine to coordinate care but not competent to take care of a person on a regular basis.
Caregiving effects a family as much as it effects a person who needs care giving. What works for one family is not viable to others.
My good wishes to Cynthia Wilson and her family.