As natural as the decision can be, there can be a great deal of planning and transitioning involved. In this guide, you’ll find helpful tips for how your family can navigate this major life change:
Ensure Adequate Resources
The resources you require can depend on how unwell your parents are and the level of care they need. Start contacting local organisations that relate to your parent’s illness to learn more about your options and if there is extra support available.
For example, if your parent has mesothelioma after working with asbestos, a resource like Mesothelioma Hope can be helpful for receiving personalised medical, financial, and supportive care. If they have specific mobility requirements, you may explore grants for service-connected disabilities or Medicare/Medicaid for funding for home modifications or medical equipment. Medicaid may also be an option to explore when additional daily care is required for everyday activities like toileting and showering.
Have In-Depth, Open Conversations
Moving your parent or parents into your home is no easy decision. You already have a family and an everyday routine, and that will now change. Before you make any big decisions, talk to everyone who will be affected.
You’ll need to have frank discussions with your spouse and involve your children by explaining what will change for them. There can even be value in talking to siblings about the proposed solution, in case they suggest alternatives.
Moving your parent or parents into your home is no easy decision. You already have a family and an everyday routine, and that will now change. Before you make any big decisions, talk to everyone who will be affected.
You’ll need to have frank discussions with your spouse and involve your children by explaining what will change for them. There can even be value in talking to siblings about the proposed solution, in case they suggest alternatives.
Discuss Finances
Not every family’s financial situation is comfortable enough to allow for an additional family member. You may also realize that moving your parent into your home and financing them means sacrificing life’s small pleasures, such as annual family vacations.
As uncomfortable as it is, talk to your parent about how finances would need to work if they moved in with you. Make a plan for how they will pay for things, and whether you’ll structure their move as a boarding or rental arrangement from a financial perspective. It’s important to have this all worked out before moving day.
Provide a Private, Comfortable Space
It’s not just your family’s everyday life that’s changing; your parent’s is, too. They may find the adjustment just as challenging as you will. After all, they went from well and independent to unwell and living with their child.
To help them adjust as smoothly as possible, provide them with a private, comfortable space of their own. This can be particularly important if they’re living with an illness that requires them to rest often. Depending on your family and the size of your house, this might mean that siblings need to share a room, or your small office space becomes a makeshift child’s bedroom.
Having an unwell grandparent move in with you can be a major change for both your family and your parent. However, by planning resources, creating a private space, and ensuring open discussions with the entire family, it could be a meaningful and worthwhile change that you are pleased you made.
