Single-children families are on the rise in the United States. According to Census Bureau data from 2022, 19% of American women from 40 to 44 years old have only one child, which has nearly doubled since 1976. As the population continues to age, only-child caregivers are becoming more common. Caring for aging parents as an only-child has its pros and cons. On one hand they don’t have siblings to rival their care decisions but on the other hand it can be a stressful and isolating experience to be the sole person responsible for the care of an aging parent.
Every family situation is different but with some planning you can be prepared for caring for your aging parents as an only child. Here are some tips to help you cope and prepare for the responsibilities associated with caring for a parent.
Plan Ahead
Advanced planning with your parents before they actually need a caregiver can relieve a lot of stress when the time does come. Ask them where they wish to live. Do they prefer to stay in their own home or an independent living community? If they decide to stay in their own home, do they want a professional caregiver and/or people to help them maintain their home. Or do they expect you to take care of them and their home?
This is also a good time to discuss finances with them and make sure that you have an estate lawyer create important documents like power of attorney and healthcare proxies. They may already have money set aside to pay for their desired plan or they may need some encouragement from you to start saving. You’ll also need access to important information like their doctors, lawyers, accountants, insurance, computer passwords, bank information, and names/numbers of friends and neighbors.
These may be difficult conversations to have with a parent, so do what feels natural. The most important thing is getting the conversation started, but it may need to be discussed over a long period of time.
Define Your Role as a Caregiver
Depending on your parent’s needs and wants you’ll need to define what your role will be. Do you want to be the hands-on, primary caregiver or the decision-maker with a team of caregivers. Your role may be a combination of these roles taking into account what you’re capable of doing, what your parents need, and their financial and living arrangements.
Find Help/Build Your Team
Just because you’re the only child doesn’t mean that all the responsibility to care for your parents has to fall on you. To start assembling a team to help you care for your parents, reach out to people who also care deeply about your parents. This can be friends and other relatives like your parents’ siblings or your cousins who might able to volunteer their time, money or both. The second group to assemble is your professional team. This team should include a financial planner, your parent’s accountant, doctors, and lawyer. And if your parents prefer to stay in their own home, an in home caregiver can be a great addition to your team.
Get Emotional Support
Being the caregiver to a parent as an only child can feel lonely. But you don’t have to do it all alone. Adding emotional support to your team will be a huge help. Finding a support group can help make the adjustment to caregiver for your parents easier by helping you feel less alone. You can also reach out to other caregivers or doctors for advice and resources for support. And if you belong to a church you may be able to find others going through a similar experience who you can create a support family with. There’s also many online forums for only child caregivers you can join from the comfort of your own home.
Are you looking for In-Home Care?
Superior Senior Care is Arkansas’s oldest, most trusted name in in-home care services. We prioritize your peace of mind. We offer referrals for a variety of levels of elderly care and services, with both short and long-term options. All the senior caregivers on our registry undergo thorough screenings and comprehensive background checks. And they are trained to work with clients in everything from household duties to grocery shopping. We’ve helped families with a variety of chronic conditions including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, lung disease and more.
For more information on our home health services offering, please contact us today at (888) 503-5879 or visit our website at https://www.superiorseniorcare.com/our-services/
As the first accredited registry in Arkansas, we have more than 35 years of experience and thousands of happy customers. Access to our large client registry means stability for you and the best chance to match you with just the right family. Interested in becoming a caregiver on our registry? Fill out and electronically submit our pre-screening referral application here: https://www.superiorseniorcare.com/caregiving-opportunities/