Father is now without 24 hour care.

Question

Neither I nor my siblings (2) can take care of him except as we always have when we come home from work. He does not want to move into my or any of my siblings' homes. He says he wants to stay at his home until it gets old. He is also broke.

Should I call Social Services? Can they help with this matter? Do they have someone who's good at speaking with elderly people, to convince them that they need care in a facility that will help them?

Answer 1

Try speaking to his doctor and see if his doctor shares your concerns and if he/she does then they will most likely know where to start. If you can not speak to hisdoctor speak to yours and explain the situation.

Answer 2

Do call social services they can assist with advising you where to find help, ie meal deliveries and cleaning assistance, I don't know which country you are in, but in Australia if you are in need of care there are a few services provided so people can be cared for at home.

Answer 3

I'm attaching the national Area Agency on Agings website. From the page link I have you can find your state and the local chapter.

They can point you in the right direction and get you assistance with home and community based services.

(meals on wheels that will deliver meals to your dad - visiting nurse services that can check in on him during the week).  Or evaluate him to see if he needs to be moved to a facility.  They can give you good advice, since this is all these folks do and they know the in's and outs of most of the governmental systems.

Best wishes for you and your family

Answer 4

This is a tough thing to deal with. You don't want to break his heart, but at the same time, he will be faced with less and less control over his world as his health deteriorates.

You need to have a little pow-wow with your sibs and discuss options.

>> See if his doctor can refer you to some real resources for assistance. <<

Contact Senior Services in your town and see what resources are available. They may be able to arrange for someone to come by in the mornings to look after him until you arrive from work.

Spending evenings and weekends looking after your dad will require some real scheduling finesse between you and your sibs, and that will get old.

At any rate, you and your sibs will probably be faced with having to put him into a nursing home, and liquidating his estate to help pay for it.