How to Choose the Right Senior Care for Your Kupuna
A lot of people don’t consider senior care for their loved ones until it’s too late.
It can be painful to picture your loved one unable stand up from a chair or use the bathroom without assistance. It can be paralyzing to consider the sheer time and dollars that go into senior care planning.
Most of all, people believe they have the luxury of time. They believe that their loved ones can handle themselves for now, and that senior care can be figured out later, when it becomes necessary.
But in the blink of an eye, your situation can change. Your mom or dad could slip and fall down a flight of stairs, lose their balance while walking out of a grocery store, or experience a sudden decline in health. Suddenly, you are forced to make immediate choices about the future of their care. If you haven’t thought about senior care before this point, you may be forced to make big decisions without having had adequate time to think your plans through.
If this sounds unlikely, consider this: the American Health Association estimates that 37,930 elderly people will need long term care in 2030 in the State of Hawaii. However, approximately 1/3 of these kūpuna will not be able to find a vacancy in a residential facility.
The bottom line: you need to start thinking about senior care long before your loved ones will need it.
While there are many factors to consider when choosing senior care, here are a few key ones to get you started on your search.
Factor #1: The Needs of Your Kupuna
Figuring out what your loved one needs from his or her care sounds incredibly simple, but can actually be difficult to figure out.
What your loved one actually needs may be different from what they want. Even after a bad fall, a parent will likely insist that she can take care of herself. Pay close attention to your loved one’s body language. Take note of what causes them pain or difficulty. Repeatedly questions about how they deal with routines like getting out of bed, using the bathroom, cooking, shopping, and cleaning. These observations may reveal where your kupuna needs assistance.
Plan not only for your kupuna’s current needs, but also their future needs. Decline is inevitable with age, and different types of care may be necessary as time goes on. Plan for care that may become necessary within a few years time and discuss it with your kupuna.
Encourage open communication with your loved ones about their needs. Many kūpuna do not want to burden their children with their care. Many children feel guilt, fear, or frustration about putting their parents in the care of another. We encourage you not to let these feelings stop you from having an honest conversation about how to best care for your loved ones. In the event that you are forced to make a decision for your loved one’s well-being, it helps if you’ve already spoken about what to do.
Once you’ve figured out the needs of your kupuna, figure out what kind of care fits them best. Check out our blog post on the different types of senior care here, or take this short quiz to find a senior care option that may fit your situation.
Factor #2: The Cost
There is no getting around it: elderly care is expensive and requires ample budgeting.
Consider how you will go about paying for elderly care, whether that be Medicare, Medicaid, or private pay. When researching a certain facility or care provider, always ask what types of payment they accept.
Know that Medicare and most private pay health insurance plans do not cover long term care costs. Check your private pay plan to see what types of senior care are or are not covered.
Budget care costs not only for care in the near future, but also for care if the health of your kupuna declines. For example, if your kupuna is currently living in a retirement home with minimal assistance, consider the costs of moving into a facility that offers nursing services or more hands-on care.
Factor #3: The Facility
You can find out more about the types of senior care facilities in our blog post on the subject. These facilities differ in various ways, and you should discuss these factors with your loved one to find out which ones matter most to them:
The location. Choosing the location of a care facility will help to narrow down the right senior care choice for your kupuna.
While staying at home and receiving home care is appealing to some, it may not always be the best choice to meet your loved one’s needs. You need to truly consider whether your kupuna can receive adequate care and stimulation at home. Check out our pros and cons about home care here.
Consider whether a location will make it easy or difficult for your kupuna to see family or friends.
Rules and restrictions, and particularly COVID-19-specific rules and restrictions on entering/leaving the facility, seeing family/friends, or allowing family/friends to enter the facility to visit a loved one.
The level of assistance offered. Some facilities mostly let seniors operate independently with minimal assistance. On the opposite end of the spectrum, other facilities offer around-the-clock nursing help for those with chronic medical conditions.
Services such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry.
Activities which can keep your kupuna engaged with a social community of residents and caretakers.
The size of the facility. Consider the amount of fellow residents (some people prefer having more or less fellow residents around). Consider the amount of staff, which can affect how much individualized attention will be given to your kupuna.
Once You’ve Figured Out Your Preferences…
Many people take the time they have for granted. They wait for things to go bad before they are forced to start making big decisions about elderly care, simply because they believe they can afford to wait.
But we hope that if there is only one thing you take away from this article, it is that you should start planning for senior care for now, far in advance of when you will need it.
Kupuna Care Pair is a search platform where you can find senior care facilities that match your needs. We invite you to try it out for free.