(((((HUGS)))))

Without knowing the extent of the care your elderly parents needs, or what their illnesses, etc. are, here are a few suggestions that I hope might help alleviate some of your stress.

First, I noticed you are from Ohio. I am from Michigan. Except for my first suggestion, you will have to do a little sleuthing to find the equivalent of these services in your area.

If your parents have Medicare, my first suggestion is to utilize the services available to you there. For example, if your mom and/or dad are unable to leave the home due to increased risk of fall, or if they must be assisted by a person to do so safely, they could qualify for in-home physical and/or occupational therapy. Their physician would have to order it, then the home health care company would come out and do an assessment to determine a treatment plan, then they would visit them on a predetermined schedule. (Stay with me here!)

If your either of them needs much more care than simple PT/OT, for example they have (a) chronic health condition(s) such as dementia, Parkinson's Disease, diabetes with complications, just to name a few, you could ask their doctor to order 'palliative care'.

Palliative Care and Hospice Care are NOT the same. Let me restate that. Palliative Care and Hospice Care ARE NOT THE SAME. (I will attempt to attach an image to this message that explains quite clearly the distinct differences between the two.)

Other places to find resources include the Medicare website.

This next resource is specific to the area in which I live and I am sharing it with you to give you an idea of things to search for on Google in your area. Misd.net/connection/

I hope this information helps you. I work in healthcare and see families bending under the strain of caring for elderly parents every day and do whatever I can to help them help themselves. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Carrie

P.S. I wasn't able to post the palliative/hospice image as this is my first (ever) post on this forum. Apparently I need 5 posts first.