The effects of aging can quickly creep into the day-to-day lives of your parents, making it difficult for them to realize the fact that they need home care.
Parents can also be hesitant to admit they need help, even when they clearly do. It’s therefore your responsibility to identify their need for help, and get them home care before it’s too late.
Here are some things that almost always are warning signs calling for home care.
Extreme Forgetfulness
While forgetfulness is a common part of aging, some parents start experiencing extreme forgetfulness. This means that they start forgetting things like places, times and even names.
Similarly, they also forget other recently learned basic information, meaning that their forgetfulness is not normal.
Sudden Falls
As your parents age, they become more likely to fall when walking or even standing. In some parents, this can be a major issue if it happens frequently.
After all, there may be no one to help them when this happens, which could have extreme consequences. Hence, if your parents have been having falls, then you would want to get home care for them as soon as possible.
Your parents may or may not tell you about these falls, but it’s not too difficult to find out. If you see unexplained bruising on their body, then they have been likely having falls or other similar issues.
Mobility Issues
Just like falls, for some parents even the usual walking, standing or even sitting down can turn challenging. Doing something like taking the stairs can be a lot of trouble for them.
This is a clear sign that they need assistance.
Temperament Issues
If your parents have suddenly been having a bad temperament or unexpected, sudden mood changes, then it could be due to a much bigger problem like early cognitive issues.
They can often lead to serious mental health issues that include depression.
Failing to Show Up for Appointments
If your parents have been missing appointments frequently as of late, then it’s clear that the effects of aging have gotten to them pretty hard. They may be finding it difficult to drive, manage their time properly, having extreme forgetfulness issues, or other issues that you may not be aware of.
Missing Medication
Forgetfulness can lead to a host of issues, and forgetting to take medication is one of them. However, if your parents have been suffering from some health issues, then it’s very important for them to take their medication on time.
Further, forgetfulness can also make them overtake their medications, which too can obviously lead to serious health issues over time, as they may be doing it very frequently.
Dangerous Driving Issues
It’s not very uncommon for aging to affect one’s ability to drive. And if this has been happening to your parents, then it can be a grave mistake to let them drive their car.
If you can see dents or scratches on your parents’ car – or unpaid traffic tickets – then it means that they are having serious driving issues and can no longer drive safely.
Letting them drive even in such a situation can mean putting both them and others at a grave danger.