Summertime
brings a lot of family time. With family reunions, picnics, weddings
and other events, long distant family members travel to gather
together. It is also the perfect time to do some planning for the
future. With parents aging and their health and lifestyles changing,
children need to discuss some changes and decisions that will be needed
in the near future. Parents should take the time to tell their children
where important documents are kept and what their wishes are in the
event of needing health care directives or experiencing long term care
needs.

For
those children who live away, the change they see in their parent's
health and mental capacity may be alarming — whereas siblings that
have daily contact are working with these issues constantly. Here is
the chance to compare notes and work together as a complete family in
the long term care planning process.

For
you parents who are well and active, this is a good time to hold a
family meeting and share with your children your plan for long term
care. Tell them where financial and legal documents are located. Review
health care directives, living wills and long term care alternatives.

Experience
has shown that even families that are close can quickly grow angry,
jealous and hostile towards each other when an aging parent begins to
need long term care. If a sibling
moves into the parent's home, others can easily be suspicious of
ulterior motives and fear losing their inheritance. On the other hand,
the child providing the elder care becomes bitter and feels there is no
support or help from siblings. Pre-need meetings for the purpose of
making a plan, before eldercare becomes imminent, avoids these types of
conflicts.

In
its book, “The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning,” the National Care
Planning Council provides guidelines and checklists for family planning
meetings. Here's an excerpt from the book:

“The first step to holding a meeting, and perhaps the most difficult

one, is to get all interested persons together in one place at one time.

If it's a family gathering, perhaps a birthday, an anniversary or

another special event could be used as a way to get all to meet. Or

maybe even a special dinner might be an incentive.

 

The person conducting the meeting can be a parent or one person of

a couple who are doing their planning, years before the need for care

arises. A meeting on behalf of someone already receiving care or

needing care in the immediate future could be conducted by that

person or by a member of the family, by an adviser or a friend.

 

The agenda could be formal or informal. If you want a formal

agenda, we suggest using our care planning checklist as the agenda.

Copies of the care plan should be prepared prior to the meeting and

presented to those attending. Discussion is encouraged and we

recommend that the person in charge not dictate but encourage input

from everyone.

 

After a thorough discussion of the issues and the presentation of the

solutions to the problems that will be encountered, there should be a

consensus of all attending to support the plan. If the plan needs to

be altered to meet everyone's expectations then by all means do so if

that can be done. But it is not always possible to please everyone so

there must sometimes be compromise.

 

The end of the meeting should consist of asking everyone present to

make his or her commitment to support the plan.

 

GET IT IN WRITING! All good intentions seem to be forgotten

with time. It may be years after this meeting before the long term

care plan begins. If there are vocal commitments to help with

transportation to doctors, give respite to the caregiver or other

commitments, write them down on the care agreement. You can

even have each person put a signature to his or her commitment if

you think that is important.”

“The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning ,” by The National Care Planning Council

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services states:

“No
one wants to think about a time when they might need long-term care. So
planning ahead for this possibility often gets put off. Most people
first learn about long-term care when they or a loved one need care.
Then their options are often limited by lack of information, the
immediate need for services, and insufficient resources to pay for
preferred services. Planning ahead allows you to have more control over
your future”.

http://www.longtermcare.gov

"Whether
you plan a formal meeting with an agenda or informally gather for a
discussion, when the family is together make it a point to start the
long term care planning process.

There
is a lot to learn and many decisions to make concerning finances,
health issues and legal work. It may take research and a lot of time to
put a plan together, but if everyone is involved it will work, and be
worth it." National Care Planning Council, www.longtermcarelink.net

Contact me if you would like to plan a family meeting with your loved ones while you visiting the Rochester area this summer.