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Facts: Moving a Parent Into Your Home

Some issues to consider before making the move

By Family Caregiver Alliance

Making the decision to move a parent into your home is not necessarily as clear-cut as it would seem.

A number of situations and questions arise that need addressing.

The Family Caregiver Alliance's family Consultants suggest that it is helpful to consider these issues before the move is made:

Relationships

  • How will I talk to my parent about moving?
  • How do my spouse and children feel about moving my parent into our home and how will it change our lives together?
  • What things will be easy for us to negotiate in living together and what things will be hard?
  • What are the limits of my ability to care for my parent at home and what if I have to put him or her in a nursing home?
  • How will my siblings feel and how much help will they give me?
  • Will my parent's friends come to visit at my house or will he or she be dependent on me for all her socializing?
  • What are my needs for privacy and alone time?

Adapting Your Home

  • Where will parent sleep in my my children's room? Should we convert the den or build an addition?
  • What assistive devices do I need-grab bars in the bathroom, raised toilet seat, ramps, etc.?
  • Does my parent smoke or drink and will that be a problem for me?
  • Does my parent have a pet that will be coming along and how will I cope with caring for it?

Money

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  • What will the financial arrangement be? Should I charge rent or for expenses?
  • How will my siblings feel about the financial arrangement?
  • Will my work situation have to change, and if so, how will I cover the bills?

Time

  • Will my parent need care during the day, and if so, how will it be provided?
  • How will I juggle my job, child-care responsibilities, marriage and caregiving?
  • When in my day will I be able to make the phone calls needed to make arrangements for my parent?
  • When will I have time for myself? 

Personal Care

  • How comfortable am I with helping my parent bathe or changing an adult's diaper?
  • Do I know what to expect over time as my parent's condition changes?
  • How is my health and will I be able to take care of myself as well as my parent?
  • Am I willing to accept respite care to get a break?
By Family Caregiver Alliance

MissionFamily Caregiver Alliance is a public voice for caregivers, illuminating the daily challenges they face, offering them the assistance they so desperately need and deserve, and championing their cause through education, services, research and advocacy.    Who We Are Founded in 1977, Family Caregiver Alliance was the first community-based nonprofit organization in the country to address the needs of families and friends providing long-term care at home. Long recognized as a pioneer in health services, the alliance offers programs at national, state and local levels to support and sustain caregivers.National, State and Local Programs Uniting research, policy and practice, the alliance established the National Center on Caregiving to advance the development of high-quality, cost effective programs and policies for caregivers in every state in the country. The National Center on Caregiving sponsors the Family Care Navigator to help caregivers locate support services in their communities. Family Caregiver Alliance also oversees Link2Care, an Internet support and information system for clients of California's system of Caregiver Resource Centers and operates the Bay Area Caregiver Resource Center in the six-county San Francisco Bay Area. In that capacity, the alliance's staff social workers work closely with families caring for ill or elderly loved ones. Our services, education programs and publications are developed with their expressed needs in mind, to offer real support, essential information, and tools to manage the complex and demanding tasks of caregiving.

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