Caring for your aging parents as they age can be incredibly rewarding, but it also comes with a slew of challenges that you may not be prepared for. It is easy to get overwhelmed when you are trying to navigate the complexities of caregiving.
Resources To Help Care For Aging Parents
The resources outlined below can help make your journey a lot easier while helping to provide the best quality of life possible for your parents.
Shepherd’s Center of Northern Virginia
Shepherd’s Center of Northern Virginia is a volunteer-based nonprofit that helps adults aged 50 and older to maintain a high quality of life. Through Shepherd’s Center, you can arrange home visits, transportation assistance, volunteer opportunities, cultural enrichment, lifelong learning and more.
BenefitsCheckUp
The National Council on Aging’s BenefitsCheckUp is a free service that you can use to determine which programs are available to your aging parents as well as to you as their caregiver. This resource can help you ensure you are getting all the benefits to which you are entitled.
AARP
Perhaps the best-known advocacy organization in the country for senior citizens, the American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP, aims to make life better for those aged 50 and older. It helps individuals to handle common aging-related concerns such as health, community, financial well-being and general life enjoyment. Their site is a great resource not only for seniors but also family caregivers, who will find lots of helpful articles and ideas.
The Administration on Aging
This governmental agency administers national services and programs geared toward seniors. These include preventing elder abuse, counseling on free health insurance and long-term care, and legal assistance.
Meals on Wheels Association of America
The Meals on Wheels program provides nutrition to American senior citizens. You can search their site to find thousands of senior nutrition programs across the country. They deliver meals to seniors in need that are created to address their specific health conditions, and they also perform safety checks around the home and assess changes that could impact future medical needs before they become bigger problems.
CaringBridge
This app and website allows you to keep track of your loved ones and stay connected with family caregivers and other supporters, and it is especially suited to those who are dealing with health problems. It is an easy way to communicate health news to other family members and friends, so everyone is kept up to date on your loved one’s condition.
The National Alliance for Caregiving
This advocacy group offers comprehensive support to family caregivers. They provide useful tip sheets, publications, articles and podcasts on a broad range of topics that are relevant to children caring for their aging parents. They also work tirelessly to raise public awareness of issues related to family caregiving.
The Department of Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs helps military veterans and their surviving spouses with health and aging-related matters. Their site also offers Caregiver Support for family members of aging veterans.
The AgingCare.com Caregiver Forum
The Caregiver Forum on AgingCare.com is a great place to connect with other family caregivers to ask for advice and provide support. You can also search past posts and help answer questions posed by other site members. In addition, they have an in-depth knowledge base that offers helpful articles on topics like adult day care, activities of daily living, aging in place, age-related decline, anger, dementia, financial and legal matters, emergency care and estate planning.
Aging Life Care Association
This site offers advice on how aging life care professionals can assist with common concerns. There is also a directory that can help you find a professional in your area if you need help with certain age-related tasks.
Reach Out To SCNOVA For Assistance With Your Aging Parents
If you are caring for aging parents and are seeking support, reach out to Shepherd’s Center of Northern Virginia today. Their volunteers are here to assist your parents with their aging in place.
December 3, 2024, we ask you to please keep the Shepherd’s Center of Northern Virginia in mind. As a non-profit we rely solely upon the support of community partners, grants and donations. To put your generosity into perspective, remember this, our funds go to enriching the lives of older adults in the communities we serve.