Showing posts with label Is it my duty to take care of my mother?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Is it my duty to take care of my mother?. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Is it my duty to take care of my mother?

 If she has been a reasonable person all her life, you owe her some assistance. This does not mean taking care for her yourself, letting her live with you, paying for it etc.

It could be as simple as doing a little research for her and making some calls - relatively easy with the internet. Look up local services she may qualify for. Facilities. Supports. If she’s a member of a faith community, see if they offer any volunteer services (ie like drives to appointments or a pickup for an activity).

When my MIL got Alzheimer’s, and was still relatively functional, I was amazed what she qualified for at no or a nominal cost to her. She had a visiting social worker, a nurse, physiotherapist (she’d broken a hip) but best of all was a housekeeper 5 half days a week. That was brilliant. The housekeeper made her breakfast, made sure she bathed a few times a week, made and left a lunch, cleaned up her little apartment, did the laundry, and took her shopping. We had Meals on Wheels bring her dinner 7 days a week. We arranged for a tab with a cab company for MIL when she could no longer drive.

With all of this, and family support we were able to keep her home for almost 2 years. I had done all the research about care facilities, and put her name on waiting lists for not for profit assisted living, so we were ready when she needed it.