Finding mom the right home from thousands of miles away won’t be an easy task. However, there are many other adults in the United States who cannot relocate to be closer to an elderly family member when it’s time for them to go to an assisted living facility or nursing home.
Assisted living facilities are all across our nation. They help promote dignity and respect to senior citizens.
It allows them much of their independence, and it allows them to be in a setting that encourages them to be with other seniors. Over a million Americans are presently residing in assisted living facilities.
Assisted living also provides seniors with optional activities, excursions, and some medical care. Although, doctors and nurses are not usually on standby 24 hours, ambulances can arrive very quickly when called.
Geriatric Care Managers
Geriatric care managers are certified and can help serve as a coordinator for you when you need to communicate with your mom’s doctor, or with other professionals. Once you explain what you need, they will tell you how they can help you and discuss their fees.
Geriatric care managers can also you in finding your mom the right type of assisted living facility, or another medical facility.
To find a qualified geriatric care manager in your area, use the search engine on the page below:
http://memberfinder.caremanager.org/
The Help of Family and Friends
Just because you are not there to provide daily assistance for your mom’s needs, doesn’t mean that there aren’t other family members or friends of hers there that could help out. Again, you should only seek help from someone you know is reliable.
If it is a family member or friend, you should compensate them in some way for their assistance. What you are asking them to do can be demanding, and it could take a lot of their time, as well.
What to Do After You Have Found Your Mom the Right Home
The question is not just finding your mom the right home from thousands of miles away, but also how to stay in contact with her. Here are some ideas:
If possible, make sure your mom has an Internet connection and teach her to use Skype. Skype has audio and video capabilities, so you can talk and see your mom as long as she has a headset or microphone attached to her computer and a video camera.
When you can see each other, it takes away a lot of worries. You can see if your mom feels well, and not just take her word for it.
You also should get regular updates on your mom’s condition.
Make sure you stay in close contact with her doctor and ask if he or she can send you reports by e-mail, or determine a time that you can call. In addition, if you have some other friends or contacts in the same town as your mom, ask if it is possible to get updates, too.
Remember, a geriatric care manager can assist you with most of this.
Long distance caregiving can be complicated. Fortunately, if you use the vast amount of resources that are practically at your fingertips, it can help for the situation ahead of you. You’re going to call the shots, but you still need to find help.
