In a recent poll, 90% of seniors said they wanted to remain in their homes and communities for life. Seniors dislike the idea of spending their last days in nursing homes or hospitals, which they consider impersonal. In addition, those who remain in their homes tend to enjoy better overall health. Unfortunately, many cannot afford professional at-home care so adult children often become their caregivers.
My husband's cousin is slowly recovering from Pacemaker surgery and is in the early stages of dementia. Since my husband is the family member who is the most local to his cousin (his 4 children live out of state, and one of them is all the way in San Francisco), some of the care has fallen on my husband although they do have in-home care for him.
Yesterday the Hubs' cousin's daughter-in-law was in town for a quick visit. We made plans to catch up with each other at the beach. We only had about two hours to chat, and much of our conversation revolved around care for her father-in-law and how it's been a struggle for his children to agree on the best course of action. She is a nurse and brought up a few excellent points that I thought I'd share since many of us are getting to the age where we are caring for aging parents.