Helping Your Parents Age Successfully

Most adult children accept the inevitable: that they will one day need to help their parents face health and lifestyle challenges. Yet most families are ill prepared for dealing with the likely medical, financial and long-term care consequences. In this presentation, Star will guide future and current caretakers and decision makers through the crucial knowledge they need to wisely handle any crisis their parents may encounter or create.

As an Aging Life Care Specialist with 25 years’ experience in senior living and senior healthcare, Star has helped thousands of families and watched the calmness when everyone was prepared and the panic, frustration, overwhelm and stress when they were not.

She will teach the ways to make the process easier on parents and their adult children. The trick is starting as soon as possible, ideally with the parents involved in their own future choices.  

This invaluable program will provide insight, expertise and guidance for family members trying to develop comprehensive holistic life plans to help their parents age successfully and be prepared for future challenges. 

The attendees will discover:

• It’s never too soon to start the “Conversation” – the “What do you want in the future, Mom?” discussion. Don’t wait for a crisis nor even until retirement or a difficult diagnosis.

• Flexibility is the key: planning for the short and long term is critical, but so is having backup plans for the unexpected broken hip, Alzheimer’s diagnosis or other event

• The 10 critical medical and financial documents you need to collect before an emergency

• Protecting your parents financially: How to help them be prepared for their care; make appropriate financial choices now

• The True Cost of Aging: Who really pays for long-term care? What about Medicare and Medicaid? What does supplemental insurance cover? Is long-term care insurance worth it? How to decide now for a better tomorrow.  

• Mental Health Concerns: Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia affects nearly 2 out of 10 seniors in the USA. What if one parent gets it and another doesn’t? How do you make sure there is care available, at just the right level at just the right time?

• How to Keep Your Parent(s) Safe:  Every senior wants to stay in their own home, but is “aging in place” the best option for all concerned? How do you know when to increase their care, and what kind of care do they need?  A few meals a week, or a full-time home health aide who sleeps over?  What are the signs they need help and when should you move them into a facility, even if they are resistant? 

• Retirement Communities, Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing Care: how they differ, what each one does, and how to find the best place for a parent now and in the future as their care needs inevitably increase

• Managing Long-Distance Caregiving: collaborating with siblings, finding the right help, learning about local options, who to trust,  how to keep communication lines open and the best practices for including all family members in the loop. 

• Preparing for End-of-Life Issues: how to create a loving, caring plan that honors their wishes and won’t leave you guessing what they wanted 

• Create your Road Map: working together will give you and your parents peace of mind as you navigate the challenges you are preparing to face together. They will know that you care enough to have the necessary conversations, however difficult. 

This presentation will give attendees the most current, valuable knowledge they need so that they will be able to make the right choices, ideally long before any level of crisis. Participants will be motivated and enlightened, ready for whatever is ahead, inspired to educate themselves and develop a plan together with their parents.