It’s important that you’re able to communicate effectively with someone whom you’ve entrusted to take care of your aging parent, which requires compassion and understanding, but it’s even more important that your beloved mother or father can speak with their caregiver as well. For thousands of elderly Torontonians who speak neither English or French as a first language, finding a long term care facility where the staff speak their language, cook their food, and understand their religious and spiritual customs, is a dream. Centres like these do exist in Toronto that cater to Chinese, Greek, Italian, and Jewish elders, but the waiting lists are prohibitively long, from 4 to even 10 years.
As a child who can’t look after your mother or father yourself, you have to find an alternative solution, and in many cases, simply turning to a Western or English-speaking centre is far from ideal. However, you may want to consider home care, whether as a stop-gap measure or a permanent answer to your eldercare needs. There are plenty of benefits to home care and Toronto has a diverse range of personal support workers who can provide full time, part time, or live in support for your parent. When you bring a personal support worker into your life, often an agency can you help you find the service that’s tailored to your specific time, medical, and cultural needs. Rather than arbitrarily assign caregivers to families, agencies embracing new technologies and standards have been using matching algorithms to start better relationships between personal support workers and families (you can visit Mavencare.com for further information on matching algorithms).
Home care is well worth your consideration as an alternative to long term facilities for a number of reasons, and it can even be a more economical decision. But beyond that, it can help keep families together, allow your loved one to age in place, and there are proven medical benefits to dementia patients for staying in familiar surroundings.
Many families living in multi-generational households feel the burden of care acutely and often feel pressured to take on the primary responsibilities of caregiving themselves. You don’t have to move your aging parent out of your home if you don’t have the time or the physical ability to be the primary caregiver – let assistance come to you. When you work with agencies like Mavencare, their service is built around your needs, whether it’s several visits of a few hours every week, daily visits, or even live in assistance if you have the room.
Whether your loved one lives in your house or their own residence, there is a strong desire among elderly people today to age in place, which means staying in the residence of their choosing while still maintaining a good quality of life. There are many reasons for this desire, from an emotional bond with their home to the fact that staying in your own residence provides a sense of independence and dignity. Instead of waiting 10 years for a spot at a long term facility, get help from an agency like Mavencare that meets your medical and cultural needs. Home care for seniors is an increasingly popular solution because it’s safe, attentive, and planned around your family.