This is why I recommend visiting them for longer periods of time, in order to evaluate several areas of daily living activities that might indicate what type of assistance they may or may not need.

• Are your parents in good health and enjoying themselves?
• Are they dealing with medication issues and able to keep prescriptions in order and take them as directed?
• Are the refrigerator and pantry well stocked with a variety fresh items?
• Are leftover foods put away properly?
• Is the kitchen, including cabinets and appliances, properly cleaned and maintained?
• Can your parents get their mail and newspapers each day?
• Are there notices for late payments or no payments that you can see or that they might discuss with you during your visit?
• Is the checkbook reconciled and bank account in order?
• How is their ability to maintain good personal hygiene?
• Are they comfortable using the shower or bath tub?
• Is clothing in order and do they have a well groomed appearance?

If you have concerns with one or more of these items, it is time to call Family Staffing Solutions, Inc or another personal care assistance company in your area (we have offices in Tennessee, Texas, and Indiana).

We, and other companies like ours, provide personal assistance care and specialize in the kinds of support you want for your parents. Since you cannot be with them all the time, we make sure someone is, should something unexpected happen. Remember: Making sure your parent(s) routine is running smoothly not only relieves their stress, but provides you with peace of mind.

As a caregiver working for a company, privately working with a family, or as the adult child caregiver for a family member, my suggestion is repack your “tool kit”, and plan to do exactly the same thing businesses do.

Acquiring these new tools will help you more effectively connect or coddle the person for whom you provide care.  Equally as important, they can help you grow as a person and expand your opportunities to value your work and yourself.

What an extraordinary time in your life and the life of your loved one. Aging is not a punishment for living. You can be a partner in a process that was ordained by our Maker, the designer of the universe, as you by default or by your own choice, provide personal care assistance to someone in these most  fragile and sometimes  compromised years of life. It is reason to celebrate yourself.

Often the story goes like this: I have brothers and sisters and they don’t  help at all! Why do I have to take care of our parents by myself?  Chances are you have heard that same expression of stress and angst within a family unit. It may be the situation in your family.

The first tool you want to put in your new “Tool Kit” is an “Attitude of Gratitude“.  I am serious.  The things you can learn, the values you can see demonstrated, the extraordinary sense of love and respect you can internalize for some one who may be close to “going home” in a real sense is one of those moments described in the line, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by those moments that take our breath away”.

A minister friend of mine wrote these words this week describing the birth of his first child. “The gift of new life is an amazing thing!  For years, I have told people that the miracle of birth is one of the strongest arguments for the existence of God. I feel that way now more than ever.  It is simply amazing how much you can love a child, so much the moment she is born.  There are many things in life that will change the way we see the world, but nothing like the birth of a child. The love, the pride, the joy and the sense of responsibility is overwhelming.”

And so it is with a person on the other end of this divinely created cycle of life .

Your new “Tool Kit” now has the first tool you need: “An attitude of gratitude”.  It is the  joy and wonder of birth  translated and redefined to describe the joy and wonder of life for one who has aged.  You can be there when they  need your hand to comfort theirs. You can be there to comfort and hold them when they feel so bad. You can  give them a reassuring  hug to be treasured, just as they did with you (or their child) as a newborn. It is a gift waiting for you to open and celebrate.

Not only are most elderly people not living in nursing homes but the numbers of those who do live in a nursing home is actually declining.  In 2004, the number of seniors living in nursing care facilities plummeted from 6.8% to 4.2%. Experts on aging and medicine foresee that this downward trend will accelerate in the coming years.

There is evidence that even disability among older people is declining rapidly. The result is that between 94% to 96% of older family members live independently or with assistance either at home or in assisted living communities.

Our seniors are in better shape than earlier generations nutritionally, medically, and fitness-wise.  There are upwards of 140,000 people over 100 years of age in our country.  They are physically and intellectually fit and wonderfully engaged in life. You might be interested to know that there are approximately 82 incredible centenarians right where I live in Rutherford County, Tennessee.

That is why I designed Family Staffing Solutions, Inc. to be committed to the notion that “length of life” offers a whole new world of opportunity for seniors (and their adult children who want parents to live abundantly) to be consumers of items in every area of life, which promote their personal choice and independence.  Our company offers the type of support to allow seniors to age in place, remain engaged in church, civic, and recreational relationships. This  keeps their lives meaningful, and inspires them to look forward to celebrating more birthdays.