We first ran this article Nov. 20, 2012. It will probably still be equally important on Nov. 20, 2102, when the babies at today’s holiday tables are getting on in years.
One thing to remember is that the time when the tips here become relevant will be difficult, and the time when the home, and the loved one, are gone will be difficult in a different way. Caring for a loved one can be hard, but it means that you have a loved one who’s still with you.
Jesse Slome has some important advice about what to do in aging loved ones’ homes.
The season starting with Thanksgiving and lasting until New Year’s has become America’s unofficial Long-Term Care Need Assessment Period.
Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, has put out a guide to assessing the well-being of parents and other older relatives that could be useful both to consumers and their retirement and LTCI advisors.
Slome said adult children or other caregiver candidates who live far from their loved ones and go home for the holidays should consider taking the following steps:
- Look for unopened mail, especially unpaid bills.
- See if the loved one has lost weight, and see if the refrigerator and pantry are full of spoiled food.
- Prepare a list of medications being taken and physician contact information.
- Write down the make, model and license plate number for the loved one’s car.
- Get the loved one’s address book and copy the contact information for siblings, children, living parents, close cousins and close friends.
- Gather account names and passwords for as many key online accounts as possible. Check the built-in password manager in the loved one’s computer browser.
- Write down the policy number and claim department contact information for any long-term care insurance policy or other arrangements, such as life insurance policies with chronic care benefits, that might be available.
Related: 5 Simple Gifts
Pictured: A Thanksgiving Day meal during World War II. Photo: Marjory Collins/Office of War Information