by Joy Loverde
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Meeting family caregivers face-to-face and learning about how they solve parent-care problems is one of the many rewards I cherish when I am on the road. Their eldercare suggestions and inventions never cease to amaze me. Here is a tip I heard about last week that is worth noting.
Suggestion: Sharing the care of an aging mother.
A family of three siblings (two daughters and a son) has limited finances and their mom ran out of money long ago. Each sibling works work full-time. Several years ago, Mom moved in with one of the daughters. Everything was working out just fine until their mother took ill and required more hands-on care.
The daughter who was housing Mom could not afford to quit her job to stay home and care for Mom, and all three siblings agreed that the costs associated with in-home care were out of bounds for their budget. The siblings put their heads together and came up with a win-win caregiving solution for everyone involved.
Each of the siblings now takes turn having Mom live with them for one year. The caregiver sibling quits his/her job and the other siblings pitch in financially – paying the mortgage and utility bills, making car payments, purchasing gas, and buying groceries. When the year is up, the process begins anew with another sibling.
It’s important to note that the siblings also did their research on how to qualify Mom for Medicaid. They are currently in the process of completing that process.
Stay tuned for Part Two.
