Multigenerational living is an excellent way to bond with your elderly parents and help them avoid the feeling of isolation that many people develop at an older age.
But if you haven’t lived with your parents for a while, then you may be concerned about how your lifestyles will work together and whether or not you will be able to meet their needs in your home.
You know that you have different values and personalities. No matter how much you love your parents, you don’t know exactly how moving them into your home will affect your family dynamics.
Those are just a few of the things to consider. Read on to learn more about these concerns and others before making a decision on whether or not to move your parents into your home.
1. Can They Handle Their Bathing Needs?
Your elderly parents will need to bathe at least once a week in order to stay clean and free of infections. Will you need to help them take care of themselves?
Check out more facts to know about elderly bathing needs to get a better idea of what will be expected of you if you choose to care for your parents and have to help clean them with the help of a professional cleaning service.
2. Will You Need to Adapt Your Home?
If your home doesn’t already have a guest room, then you will need to get furniture and make a place for your parents to stay. You can find comfortable, but cheap sofas online.
You may also need to adapt your bathroom to have a handicap bar and a more accessible toilet if your loved one has decreased mobility.
In addition, if your parent is in a wheelchair or needs any sort of medical equipment int he home, then you will need to be able to accommodate it.
3. How Much Money Will it Cost?
Moving your parents in will have a long term cost of increased electric and water bills. But it will also have an immediate cost of putting their home on the market, packing and moving their stuff, and getting them out of any other obligations they were under with their home.
Make sure you have enough money to take care of all of their needs before you make the move. If you put yourself into too much of a financial crunch, then it can make the move in process overwhelmingly stressful.
4. How Much Time Will You Devote to Care?
The longer your parents live with you, the more likely it is that their health will decline to the point where they need full-time care. Make sure you decide how much time you can donate to helping your parents and work out a plan for their care in the time you are unavailable.
5. How Much Supervision Will They Need?
One danger of having your parent living in your home is not having anyone to watch them while you are away. If your parent needs a lot of assistance then they may try to get up on their own while you are gone and end up getting injured.
Make sure you will be around enough to get them the care they need or hire someone to come in for the day to help them with things.
6. How Well Will You Get Along?
If you haven’t lived with your parents for a while, then their personality could have changed quite a bit in their old age.
Make sure that you spend a good amount of time with them first to find out if you are able to get along before you commit to allowing them to live in your home full time.
7. Will Your Elderly Parents Contribute Financially?
Since it is more expensive to have your parents live with you, you need to talk about how bills will be handled before you move them in.
If you expect them to chip in with water and rent, then you will need to let them know beforehand.
8. How Will Your Spouse and Children Feel?
You may want to put the needs of your parents first but you need to make sure that you consider the feelings that your spouse and children might have about having to live with an elderly person.
It will affect their lives much more than you may think. They may have to be quieter, keep the house warmer, not have friends over as often, and need to stay calmer in order to keep a good environment in your home.
9. Will They Listen to You?
Trying to live with your parents can be difficult since they raised you in their home and are used to making the rules. You need to make sure that your parents will respect the rules of your home before they move in.
If you try to live with your parents and you don’t get along very well, this can make a stressful situation for everyone. Perhaps you should consider allowing them to live on their own and hiring a caregiver.
10. Will Your Parent Have a Network of Support Around Them?
Many elderly people get lonely when they are at home by themselves too much. You need to think about how much isolation your elderly parent will have if they move into your home.
Are you going to be gone all day at work or will you be there to visit with them? Are there any other friends and family members nearby who can visit with them while you are away? What will happen to them if you want to go on vacation?
More Helpful and Interesting Posts
Now that you know what to consider before moving your elderly parents into your home, you can make a more informed decision.
Check out our blog today for more helpful posts and to read some interesting articles.