There are currently over 79 million Baby Boomers in the United States alone. An estimated 13 million of them are caring for their elderly parents, with 25 percent of those parents living in the home of an adult offspring. When sudden, unexpected changes in a parent’s health occur without a clear plan for the quagmire of legal, financial, and medical decisions needed, it can tear families apart, often leaving siblings estranged and resentful for years to come. The following are a few topics adult siblings and their parents need to talk about.
- If we get suddenly and unexpectedly ill, who is going to take us to the hospital?
- What kind of care do we want?
- Where are the finances for hospital, nursing care, long-term care going to come from?
- And finally, what are our desires regarding our funeral? Who is going to pay for it?
If we as parents don’t have these discussions with our adult children, all hell can break loose when we are too ill to intervene, with everyone expressing different desires, often putting stress upon everyone involved.
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Author and public speaker, Carolyn A. Brent, provides a comprehensive handbook for family caregivers, highlighting the crucial conversations siblings and their aging parents must have. She draws upon her own heartbreaking family experiences, plus exhaustive research on the subject, outlining a step-by-step process that can spare caregivers and their families the stress of conflict at a time of grieving and loss, but also an opportunity to mend fences and renew the connection and communication they once enjoyed with each other.
She explains everything you need to know about these crucial conversations in full detail, along with other important information covering the financial, legal and emotional necessities of aging and end-of-life issues, in her upcoming book Why Wait? The Baby Boomers’ Guide to Preparing Emotionally, Financially and Legally for a Parent’s Death which is coming out Nov 15, 2011. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to receive regular helpful tips, and news of the upcoming book release.
You can also download a free Medical Check List by clicking this link.
And please do leave a comment below. I would love to hear about your personal story or experiences on this topic.
Carolyn A. Brent, M.B.A., is a former clinical educational manager in the pharmaceutical industry. During her role as a panelist on many clinical studies, she developed a passion to inform the public about the many side effects of drugs, especially those used in the care of the elderly. When her own father became ill with dementia in 1997, she began to experience firsthand the frustration of not only coping with the medical world, but also the legal, financial, and, of course, emotional aspects of caring for her aging father. Today, Carolyn is an avid activist and advocate working with the U.S. Congress for the purpose of creating change to protect seniors and veterans from financial and medical abuse. She has appeared on many local and national TV and radio shows, and is a sought-after keynote speaker. She resides in Northern California.
Her book Why Wait? The Baby Boomers’ Guide to Preparing Emotionally, Financially and Legally for a Parent’s Death is coming out Nov 15, 2011.
