Long-Term Care–A Matter of Degree

Let’s start at the beginning.

Most of us can remember when our parents ran over to grandma and grandpa’s house to change a lightbulb or deliver groceries, and there were times when a grandparent moved in with us for a while after a hospital stay. Perhaps you’ve already offered such services to your parents. And perhaps you alerted neighbors and asked them to call on them every other day or so to make sure all was okay with them.

But perhaps there came a time that their physical or mental impairments had progressed to the degree that they needed more than occasional, informal, and nonprofessional care. For a time, they may have been unwilling to admit it, and you might have been unaware of their daily problems for that reason. If you lived far away from them, you perhaps had fewer times that you could be with them and develop an objective opinion about their capabilities; you had to rely on what they told you and read

between the “I’m doing just fine” line.

Perhaps it became time to get some professionals and outside services involved. You considered Meals on Wheels, community-

based help that sent someone by daily to help them out, maybe even a home-care nurse to come by once a week or more often to make sure their blood pressure was what it was supposed to be and they weren’t having problem with their meds. Maybe you asked around to find someone who would stay with them during the day or looked into elderly day care facilities.

But what about the nights?