How to Talk to Parents About Moving to a Nursing Home

Oklahoma City Medicaid attorneys help with the creation of a nursing home plan. Because there is a substantial chance that you will need nursing home care as you get older, it is important for everyone to put a plan in place for what will happen if nursing home care becomes necessary. 

Unfortunately, many people do not create a nursing home plan because they do not realize they need one or because they do not want to think about the possibility of needing to move to a nursing home.  Most of us are in total denial.  Because failing to make a plan can make things harder for family members and can jeopardize an inheritance, it can be smart for young people to talk with their parents about what will happen if they need to get care in a nursing home setting.

While this can be a difficult conversation to have, it can spare both parents and kids a lot of serious problems when it comes time for parents to move into a nursing home. Parman & Easterday can provide help in actually putting plans in place, so if your parents are getting older, your family should reach out to our firm to help.

How to Talk to Parents About Moving to a Nursing Home

A Place for Mom (it could be Dad) provides some tips on having a conversation with your parents about moving to a nursing home. Some of their tips include:

• Broaching the subject in multiple small conversations: Having many small discussions can be easier for parents to cope with compared with having one big discussion. A major sit down about nursing home planning can seem overwhelming and can sometimes make parents defensive. But, if you have many small conversations about the future over time, they will be more comfortable and more receptive to discussing issues.
• Phrasing the conversation in terms of your worries: Parents don’t want to put their children into a difficult situation. If you are able to broach the subject by discussing your own worries rather than coming at the conversation from a point of telling your parents what to do, parents are often much more receptive to listening and talking with you openly.  Few parents want to be a burden to their children.
• Help parents find a professional: Parents often feel uncomfortable talking about money and health issues with their children. But, if you can help your parents find a professional that has experience with making a nursing home plan, your parents may be receptive to meeting with them, hearing their advice, and working with them to create a plan.

While having these conversations can be difficult, it can be far better for everyone if seniors are able to research a nursing home before they need to move into a care facility so that seniors and their families are not scrambling to find the right home in a medical emergency when parents need a place to go right away.

Making an advanced plan for care also allows for assets to be protected. Since Medicare and private insurance won’t pay for nursing home care in most circumstances, those who move to a nursing home may have to impoverish themselves if they haven’t made plans to get covered by long-term health care insurance or means-tested Medicaid to pay for their care.

Getting Help from Oklahoma City Medicaid Attorneys

At Parman & Easterday, our Oklahoma City Medicaid attorneys help families put plans in place if nursing home care is needed. We can work closely with you to research which nursing home is the right one and we can also provide assistance in making sure that you can afford the costs of care.

To find out more about the different ways that our firm can help with the nursing home planning process, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call today at (405) 843-6100 or contact us online to learn more.