If you desire to avoid a nursing home you have two choices: hire a home care aide or become one yourself.

If your parent requires help with activities of daily living, dressing, bathing, eating, medication management, toileting etc., if you desire to avoid a nursing home you have two choices: hire a home care aide or become one yourself. Both these options allow your parent to reside at home. However, each has its own pitfalls.

Families who choose a non-family caregiver must decide between an agency or hire a caregiver privately. The alternative, you the caregiver, one of 65 million unpaid family caregivers in the U.S., face burnout if you don't budget for respite care.

If you’re unsure what kind of care is required for you loved one, Senior Life Care Planning can help you assess the situation by preparing a life care plan. The life care plan is not just a document but a relationship between your loved one, yourself and the staff of Senior Life Care Planning. For more information on life care planning see our previous blogs, including What is a life care plan?