Do you have an elderly loved one who needs more attention and care than what you can provide? When you have to juggle between work and home responsibilities, moving him or her into an age care facility is one great feasible solution; although this is a difficult decision that is hard to undertake. You must put into careful consideration the many positive effects this has on everyone involved in the care.
To put it in a massive perspective, there are over 2.5 million carers in Australia who are unpaid in 2015. An estimated 856,000 or 32 percent of them are primary carers or people who provide informal assistance to elderly family members. If you are spending an extra 20 hours or more just to take care of seniors, you are part of the 55 percent of primary carers who do so.
With this research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the projected hours of unpaid care is around 1.9 billion hours. That’s added burden to carers who may have other responsibilities. In the end, this will cause exhaustion and inefficiency, which may lead to dire consequences.
Moving a senior parent or a family member might be emotionally overwhelming and hard at first. However, when you begin these steps, you will surely feel relieved and assured that when you do this, they will be in safe hands.
1. Acquire a care needs assessment
Before you move someone into a senior age care facility, you must initially have him or her go through a care needs evaluation with the social services department. It’s especially fundamental if you need financial assistance from local government agencies that may fund the care when someone has been assessed.
2. Sit down and discuss
Prior to shortlisting aged care residences, do have a sit down with your elderly relative. Discuss what their wants are – that is if they still can handle discussions. Talk about the location, amenities, and specialist care. Know what the basics are and what they view as appealing. You might also need to get other close relatives involved during this phase.
3. Do waitlisting of care facilities
When you find appropriate options in your locality, identify which of these are either nursing or residential. Also look for those that offer specialist assistance particularly if your elderly loved one has physical handicaps or a need for dementia care.
There are numerous websites dedicated to such facilities and you can just head online to view which of these are worth visiting.
4. Take time to read reviews
Since you are already online, it is still better to have read reviews when deciding for a care facility. Reports and client reviews are usually available to the public. These provide you a valuable insight to the quality of care provided. On the other hand, check out whether inspections are frequent and high staff turnover is apparent. These will show you any underlying problems within the facility.
5. Seek for recommendations
You can always ask from a happy resident any recommendations. This will greatly ease the entire process of searching.
6. Call shortlisted facilities
When you have narrowed down your choices, you can now call them for the specifics. Discuss with them about how they are going to meet your elder’s need and even request for pricing quotes if you think necessary.
On the other hand, you can inform whether your senior parent or relative is self-financing or supported by the government. All these will help you get a more realistic picture of what the facility would be.
Lastly, that is if you have time, feel free to drop buy at the age care facility of your choice. This will somehow give you a more tangible feel of what your elderly loved one is moving into. Alternatively, you can also ask an agent to give you a visit too.
