“As lifespans increase, our elders grow in number, and government elder benefits become more politically tenuous, the need for empathetic family elder caregivers keeps increasing.
Seniors crave their independence and a sense of place. Almost all wish to remain in their own homes and to “age in place.” Being independent in your senior years benefits everyone. However, if aging brings illness, professional home caregiving may be unaffordable, says The Winston-Salem Journal in the article “Who will help me to age in place?”
Even though they want to remain independent, family member participation may be necessary for this to happen. Family caregivers may live with aging parents, serving as guardians, trustees or power of attorney agents on their parent’s behalf. They may perform many tasks, including cooking, cleaning and monitoring their medical or home care. They may take care of the home and take aging parents on outings.
Loyalty to aging parents runs the gamut, from daily contacts and living together, to children who vanish as soon as they are financially independent. While our biology may dictate that close family members are genetically predisposed to care for us most, it’s not everyone’s experience.
If your goal is to have parents, children and grandchildren all spend time together as the generations move through their lives, the time to start is while you are parenting. The most important thing you can do to increase the likelihood of having family members who value each other and care for each other, is to raise children with love and kindness.
You should limit the amount of time that children spend with electronic devices. Making family connections and teaching caregiving skills within the family, requires time and attention. Teach your children empathy and caregiving through gardening, caring for plants and pets and letting them see how you take care of siblings, parents, grandparents, friends and the less fortunate through volunteer work.
Our children learn more from what they see, than what we say. By teaching your children to respect and care for those they love, you will be creating a family legacy based on your values. This will be as much a part of them, as any inheritance you can leave them.
Part of caregiving is taking care of the legal and financial side of your life. Ensure that your family members have an estate plan in place, including a will, financial power of attorney and health care power of attorney. Caregiving for others involves preparing for the ups and downs of life. This shows your children that there are things we do for ourselves and for others that make life easier for those we leave behind. It is an important life lesson for each generation.
Reference: The Winston-Salem Journal (March 5, 2019) “Who will help me to age in place?”
“隨著人的壽命越來越長,老人的數目也日漸增加,政府老人的福利變得更加政治化,對理解老人的家庭護理人員的需求不斷增加。
老人渴望有一個獨立及舒適環境。幾乎所有人都希望可留在自己的家中終老。在你年老時可獨力照顧自己則令家人受惠。然而,如果年老帶來疾病的話,專業的家庭護理費用可能負擔不起,The Winston-Salem Journal在文章“Who will help me to age in place?”中說。
即使他們想獨立,也可能需要家人幫助。照顧老人的家庭成員可以與年邁的父母一起生活,代表其父母擔任監護人,受託人或財務代理人。他們可以執行許多任務,包括烹飪,清潔和監控他們的醫療或家居護理。他們也可以打理房子,並帶年邁的父母外出。
對年老父母忠誠的幅度可以從日常接觸和共同生活到在經濟上獨立後就消失的子女。雖然在生物學角度上親密的家人是最關心自己的,但並不是每個人都一樣。
如果你的目標是讓父母,子女和孫兒一起度過,那麼應在你養育子女的時候開始。如果你想能讓家人互相尊重並互相照顧,最重要的就是要用愛及仁慈去撫養子女。
您應該限制子女花在電子設備上的時間。在家中建立關係和教導互相照顧的技能,透過園藝,照顧植物和寵物教導你的子女同情心和如何照顧其人,這都需要時間和精神。讓他們看看你如何照顧兄弟姐妹,父母,祖父母,朋友和當義工照顧不幸的人。
我們的子女從他們看到的東西中學到的東西比我們說的多。通過教育子女懂得尊重和關心他們所愛的人,你便可以用自己的價值觀創造你的家庭遺產。這將是其中的一部分,因為他們將繼承你留下給他們的任何東西。
處理好你法律和財務方面也是照顧的一部分。確保您的家人有資產計劃,包括遺囑,財務授權書和醫療授權書。照顧他人包括為人生的高低潮作準備。這讓您的子女看到你是如何為自己和其他人做事,讓在生的人生活可以更輕鬆。這對每一代人來說都是重要的人生課程。
參考: The Winston-Salem Journal (March 5, 2019) “Who will help me to age in place?”