Caring for Those Without Children

When an elderly senior is in need of care, it is usually one of their children that steps in and helps with arrangements. This makes sense as family members are typically the ones who know each other the best and have legal responsibilities, such as power of attorney. When it comes to arranging for long term care, family members are the ones who take on the bulk of the burden as a result of this.

 

But what happens when there is no child to step in? Who takes on the role of caregiver when a senior in need has no children?

 

Many seniors today are without children. As adult children are often the people that arrange for senior care, this can pose a big problem.

 

This is a big question, especially because seniors today are more likely to have never had children or have lost their children than any demographic that has needed senior care before. Some have family members, but they might not be close by, while others may, for one reason or another, be a shut in. The issue is that there’s not always a lot of awareness of who these people are. If there is resistance to care, they may never get the help that they need and be living a far less comfortable life than they need to. They may even be living in a dangerous situation because of that.

 

This isn’t uncommon. After all, they’ve lived much of their life on their own and they have a strong sense of independence as a result of that. This doesn’t mean that they do not need help, though. If you know or live near any seniors that might fit this description, it is important that you check in on them every once in a while. This should be done in a pushy way, but a caring one. Be a friend, bring them dinner once in a while, or just stop by to play a game. This will be a small act of kindness on your part, and it will do a lot to help brighten their days and give them something to look forward to. You might not ever need to talk to them about care, even. For many, just having a friend can go a long way toward helping improve their overall quality of life.

 

If you don’t know who these people are, there’s almost nothing that you can do to help them. More awareness of your community, and alerting authorities regarding who is in need of some sort of senior assistance can really help. Luckily, senior care has moved to the point where care doesn’t need to be intrusive, as many fear that it is. In-home care, for example, is often very well received by this population because there’s no need for relocation or changes of lifestyle. Care communities may also be more attractive to this set of individuals because this type of help doesn’t feel like senior care. There are a lot of options out there, and they are all designed to help. Finding the right one for a friend or neighbor might seem like a challenge, but there are more opportunities for various types of care out there than ever before.

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