The title of today’s blog comes from an article in the November 25 edition of the Roanoke Times. The artice, written by Pamela Knudson, is a good one and discusses how to help aging parents deal with the challeges of aging. The article provides good advice on how to anticipate, and deal with, parents’ physical and mental changes. It also offers specific and focused suggestions on how to help those kind folks who raised us.
We see some very bad “family decisions” about where to place a loved parent when they can longer take care of themselves at home. First, the right type of facility must be selected. The options include independent living, assisted living, and more traditional nursing homes for long term care. Each option has it pluses and minuses and the best choice depends on your parents’ extent of impairment (physical or cognitive). Second, after determining what level of care is needed by what type of facility, the next task is to thoroughly investigate the facilities which provide the needed care. Let me assure you, not all similar facilities provide the same level of care. We have seen nursing homes that I would not want my worst enemy to ever set foot in.
Our experience in handling nursing home abuse and neglect cases for over 20 years, lead us to publish a book titled, “A Consumer’s Guide to Long Term Care Choices in Virginia.” We provide the book free of charge to Virginia residents. If you are facing the decision of how to help an aging family member with these issues, contact my assistant, Mary Ann (mspencer@frithlawfirm.com or 540.985.0098), and provide us with you mailing address and we will send you a copy of our book free of charge.