How to take care of Elderly when...?

Hello,

How can we take care of our grand-pa or grand-maa, when we are away from home...

I will explain it completely. I live in metro where all are out of home whole day...and arrive at evening.
But when my grand ma came to our home, I was very happy to have her at out home.
Her conditions wasnt that good, i.e.she needs someone to make her stand, sit, to go to bathroom means constantly look after her.

We get worried for her whole day, so I took leave from clg for week.

Now she's with my other uncle at native place, where aunty is housewife, she can take care.

But what when My mom will grow old or I will grow old...how will take care...

Except vrudhaashram(old age home) what are other options available...coz I seriously never thought of it neither saw such a case...mostly in metros we stay in nuclear family...what do they do?

Or anyone of us can put light on this case, what we should do in such situation.

(I dont know if this is lame question, or not, but a genuine one.)

With the family size getting smaller this could be a real problem. People should save for their old age . Other than that I do not know what can be done

Originally posted by: zorrro

With the family size getting smaller this could be a real problem. People should save for their old age . Other than that I do not know what can be done

I know this is really tricky situation...And a serious question too...

One can be more of socialization...with neighbours we can share lot of things even if our relatives are not here...that can happen with trusting with each other
Lot of ppl living in blocks/apartments never care who lives besides...many times in tv I read, a murder/loot happens in neighborhood and ppl dont come.
Like the socialization ppl have in chawl...they always chat with each other...even if no body is at home...they take care...or take care of small kids or elderly...


Plz friends, I want more participation :)
want to know how we can handle such situations.

How about better quality old age residential areas that have all facilities like medical, shopping, clubs, library, security etc within the campus

Good question. As time goes by it becomes more difficult to take care of loved ones. Even for people those who care, with cost of living so high, it becomes imperative for everyone in the family to work long hours leaving minimal hours for caretaking.

If possible, try staggering shifts with family members so someone is always at home.

If affordable, hire a reliable caretaker/sitter for when you are out. Some places have senior day care centers.

Most importantly, even if they don't need caretaking get them a medical pendant for emergencies

I highly recommend planning for the old age of yourself and your loved ones. Save up for retirement. In old age go to a retirement home/assisted living community. There are many good ones that provide safe healthy environment for elderly. A lot of old people get depressed and lonely if they are home alone all day. So retirement homes can be a good option even for healthy and active elderly. Many have plenty of activities so they can socialize and do stuff even in old age. For those who are not well these places provide therapists, nurses, etc. Many will even check up to make sure they take their meds and eat well. Just save up and find a good place.

Now this doesn't mean leave them there and ignore them. You should always visit frequently and spend plenty of time with your loved ones. But nursing homes can be a safe secure place when you cannot always take care of someone 24/7.

I am assuming no body will be at home only during the day time, so a reliable caretaker/aaya/nurse(if the concerned elderly has some serious medical conditions) can be hired during the day.

The caretakers credentials need to be verified before entrusting your old or infirm parents and house to them.

How we treat vulnerable people such as seniors in our society says a lot about who we are as a people. I think that most societies have incredibly few public resources set aside to provide support and services for the elderly. We all pay taxes so that public programs can exist for all of us, even if each one of us doesn't personally benefit from it at one given time.

Saving up for retirement is nice, but not everyone has the circumstance to do that. Youth unemployment is so high right now in North America which results in financial dependence on parents for much longer than in previous generations. Most jobs created in the past two decades are much more precarious, with poor compensation (usually minimum wage) with no benefits. That's the reality for most people out there.

In short we need political solutions, not just individual-based solutions that are only possible for a privileged number of people.

Originally posted by: --arti--

In short we need political solutions, not just individual-based solutions that are only possible for a privileged number of people.

That is going to be a difficult societal shift.

Personally, I am in favor of society that provides support systems for the vulnerable and impoverished. But collectivism has a negative connotation these days and it is challenging to shift the mindset.

We can definitely electorally work towards social solutions. Until that happens we do have to think about our own elderly as individuals. And perhaps some others if we can afford to.

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

That is going to be a difficult societal shift.

Personally, I am in favor of society that provides support systems for the vulnerable and impoverished. But collectivism has a negative connotation these days and it is challenging to shift the mindset.

We can definitely electorally work towards social solutions. Until that happens we do have to think about our own elderly as individuals. And perhaps some others if we can afford to.

Actually, this is pretty interesting to me. I have been reading some literature lately that suggests that there is more of a willingness in Canada (and to an extent, the US as well) to pay taxes towards publicly-owned social infrastructure, than is indicated by right-wing political rhetoric. Or for that matter, centre or left of centre rhetoric. Electoral politics has slowly shifted towards the right in Canada, with the conservative party here now in power federally. I mean, there is tons of work being done by these right wing think tanks to convince people that they hate paying taxes, but despite the quite effective and strategic work they have done over the past couple of decades, a lot of poll data shows that Canadians still tend to favour public services, and are suspicious about the privatization of public services and so on.

So you're right, it does have a negative connotation, but I question the extent to which people are actually averse to "common good" scenarios where we all share responsibility for building society, including ultra-rich tax evaders and big corporations that get out of paying their share.

I also feel hopeful about the possibility of how these so-called public opinions can change. I guess I approach it from a standpoint of Marxist dialectics. I believe that transformation is key, and that social movements or collective political things that we do affects the possibility and the kind of transformation that could occur.