Hearing that your aging parent is living with cancer is a life-changing moment. As soon as your senior hears this diagnosis, it is time to start making a variety of important decisions. While your parent will need to make very personal decisions such as the medical team they will use, and the types of treatments that are right for them, as a family caregiver, you will need to make plans as well. Whether you have been caring for your senior for years already, or you are just getting started on this role after diagnosis, your parent’s experience with cancer will shape the type of care they need. Starting to make these plans as early in the experience as possible lets you feel more confident in these plans, and helps to ensure they are as effective and beneficial as possible.
Some of the plans you should make for care during your parent’s lung cancer experience include:
- Build a care network. Caring for an elderly adult, particularly one with a serious health issue, is difficult. You should not be expected to do it completely on your own. Building a care network means finding family, friends, and others who can step in to fill care gaps, manage tasks, and ensure your parent always has access to the care they need.
- Start elder care. An elderly home care services provider can be with your aging parent on a customized schedule to support the care you give them, and ensure continued access to effective, respectful care tasks. This can include help with transportation to ensure they get to their appointments, medication and treatment reminders, meal preparation, and more.
- Consider a support group. When making plans about care during your parents lung cancer experience, you should not just be thinking about them. Thinking about yourself and your own needs is an important step in ensuring you can be the best quality caregiver possible for them. Consider finding a support group designed specifically for caregivers of seniors with cancer. This support group will give you a place to express your thoughts and feelings, vent anger and frustration, get advice from those who have experienced what you are going through, and even offer help to others.
Planning ahead for care and support as your parent ages is a fantastic way to help them live their highest quality of life. Even if your aging parent is only experiencing mild to moderate challenges right now, considering elder care for them can help them to cope with their health issues and problems, modify tasks to suit their limitations, and give them the personalized services they need to continue living the life they want. This can include safe and reliable transportation to get to the places they need or want to go, on their schedule, rather than always waiting for you, support and assistance to participate in activities that stimulate their mind and give them the social interaction they need, offer reminders to keep them compliant with their medications and treatments, and much more. The fully customizable nature of these services mean your senior always has access to what they need now, and what they may need moving forward.
If you or an aging loved one needs elder care in Elk Grove, CA, remember Senior Home Care Services. Call us at (916) 514-7006 for more information.
Source
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-small-cell-lung-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
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