Your mom lives alone, and her ability to properly take care of herself concerns you. She wants to age in place, but you want to keep her safe. Home care services are the best compromise.
While it's clear your mom needs help, it's harder to know exactly what services best meet her needs. Here are some of the best ways to decide what help she needs.
Spend a Day With Her
Spend a day with your mom and keep a mental list of the things she's unable to do on her own. When you have to take over a task, note it for one of the home care services she'd need.
Take her out driving, if she's still allowed to. While you're out assess her braking distances, how quickly she reacts to sudden obstacles, and whether she stays in her lane or not. Is she stopping in time for lights and taking corners tight enough? If not, it's time for her to give up her keys.
See what she's eating. If she tends to eat more frozen pizzas and canned soups than she does a home-cooked meal, it's time to consider making meal preparation services part of her weekly routine.
Explore Her Home
Take time to look around your mom's home. Be as discreet as you can to keep from upsetting her. You're looking for how well she's keeping up with things like laundry, sweeping, taking out the trash, and stocking her pantry, fridge, and freezer with the foods she should be eating and the household supplies she needs.
Are her bills organized and paid on time? Do you see any late notices or disconnection warnings? How are her bank accounts? If she'll let you, get access or even added to her accounts so that you can monitor her spending for situations like overdrafts, bounced checks, or unusual payments that can be a sign she's falling for scams.
Make sure her home is free of safety issues like torn carpeting, loose railings, and burned-out lightbulbs. Replace bulbs if she needs any of the replaced, and fix loose railings to prevent falls on the stairs. Check her bathroom and see if she has grab bars installed. If not, they should be.
Ask Her for Input
Ask your mom what she struggles to complete each day. If she had help, what would she want her aide to take care of? She might want someone else cooking meals and cleaning her home. She may hate going grocery shopping on her own. Her caregiver can do all of this for her.
Arrange Home Care
Home care services make a big difference in your mom's life. Make sure you arrange the services she needs to maintain her independence as she ages at home. A specialist can answer your questions, explain pricing, and schedule the services your mom needs.