Tips for Creating a Safety Net for Our Aging Parents – Part 1

Written by on July 15, 2008 - 8 Comments
Categories: Safety

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series.

Click here for Part 2.

If our aging parent fell in their home and passed out, how would we know? 

If they became paralyzed by a stroke and couldn’t call us or reach a neighbor, what happens then? 

What if we call several times on a day you know they are at home and they don’t pick up the telephone? 

Any of these scenarios could happen to our Golden Oldies.  I think it’s imperative to put a “Senior Safety Net” in place to help our parents in these potentially life-threatening situations.  And most importantly, we must be pro-active and get a plan in place before an emergency happens!  

  • Collect the names, phone numbers and email addresses for their immediate neighbors and introduce yourself to them the next time you’re visiting.  In case you can’t reach your parents, you can call and ask them to check on them for you.

 

  • Have an extra set of keys made for your parents’ home and car for you to keep.   They could also exchange house keys with a friendly neighbor if they feel comfortable doing this.  

 

  • Obtain a MedicAlert bracelet for your parents to wear.  MedicAlert is a non-profit organization that protects and saves lives by providing identification and medical information in emergencies.  Emergency medical personnel are trained to look for the MedicAlert emblem which has your parents’ personal ID number, primary medical conditions, and the phone number of the organization’s 24-hour Emergency Response Center.  In the event of an emergency, MedicAlert will also notify your family or designated contacts.  A senior citizen does not even have to have a known medical condition; instead it could be used for identification purposes only. For further information about this organization and its services, click here.

 

  • There are home medical alert systems that can be purchased and in Part 2 I will report in detail about them.

These tips for a “Senior Safety Net” should help provide peace of mind for our aging parents and as well as for us, the family caregivers.

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8 Responses to “Tips for Creating a Safety Net for Our Aging Parents – Part 1”

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  1. Barbara Swafford
    July 16, 2008 at 1:42 am

    Hi Linda,

    These are all great tips. Often neighbors are the best to make friends with. Although many say they have nosy neighbors, they could save the life of our Golden Oldies.

  2. Vered
    July 16, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    These are really important. My grandma died at home, from an acute asthma attack. It took a while for the grownups (I was a child) to realize that something was wrong. They still beat themselves up over whether they could have saved her if they were more alert. She was not even old: she was in fact still young. She was only 58.

  3. Linda Abbit
    July 16, 2008 at 7:56 pm

    @ Barbara – Yes, our parents don’t *have* to socialize with their neighbors, but it makes sense to be “neighborly”. It’s nice if the adult children get to know the neighbors well enough that the neighbors recognize the chldren & vice versa.

    @ Vered — I’m sorry about your Grandma dying so young! It’s hard for us all not to feel guilty when someone close to us dies, thinking we could have done more. I try to keep in mind that expression about not “should-ing” all over oneself when I hear that brain chatter beginning in my head.

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