Challenges adult children face when caring for elderly parents

Elderly Care

Adult Children and Elderly Care

Comment by Sabina:

Adult Children and Elderly Care

What are some of the major problems caregivers face?

With advances in modern medicine our elderly populations are living much longer. Family members who care for their elderly parents encounter many different problems. Some of the biggest problems that caregivers face are the financial strains and emotional strains involved with caring for an elderly parent. Medical care is extremely expensive, even with the use of Medicare there is still out of pocket cost associated with medical care and prescriptions. Adult children who care for parents, who are disabled or chronically ill, could experience many different levels of stress and emotions. There is a high level of stress associated with caring for a parent with a chronic disease. Career goals may also suffer for the caregiver. Many caregivers have to change their job or even leave their job to take care of elderly parents.

Why do adults feel guilty when they have to relocate their aged parents?

Adult children are often faced with the task of making difficult decisions for their parents. Often decisions about the care of elderly parents are difficult and can be emotional for most individuals associated with the decision making. Children are often forced to make decisions about assisted living facilities, nursing homes or relocating their parents to live with them. These decisions can cause an enormous surge of guilt for the child or children making these decisions. One of the main reasons for the guilt is the psychological effect of seeing the deteriorated state of the elderly parent. The guilt is also associated with the role change associated with these decisions, the parent has now become the child and the child has now become the parent. These decisions can also be a reminder of the parents' mortality (ArgiLife, 2010).

Response Two

It is the responsibility of the caregiver to assess the needs of the elderly parent. The caregiver should first understand the types of need the parent have and decide if they can meet those needs. The medical needs associated with caretaking of an elderly person are extremely important and time consuming. The guilt associated with difficult decisions that must be made about the elderly person's health and care, can be attributed to the patient and other family members. In many cases family members who are not the caretaker can also cause guilt, by making demands and criticisms about the care. Some adult patients do not want to go into the nursing homes or assisted living facilities and can create difficulty for the caretaker.

Reference

ArgiLife (2010). Helping when Health Fails. Family and Consumer Sciences. Retrieved from http://fcs.tamu.edu/families/aging/elder_care/helping_when_health_fails.php