Seeking some ideas/advice for aging parents...

In the last 12 months my parents have both taken a steep decline health wise. Us kids are really struggling with a few pieces of this and I'm sure that others here have faced similar situations.

1. The house is too big for them to take care of. They can't keep it clean and it is getting pretty gross.
2. They can't handle the stairs. Both have fallen in the last 12 months.
3. We want them to sell the house and move to something small and 1 level or assisted living. They refuse.
4. 1 parent has had a serious mental and physical decline. Other parent has full mental function but physical decline.
5. Both drink too much but given their age I don't think this can be fixed. It does make 1-4 worse.

How do we get a person in the house to help with basic tasks such as cleaning bathrooms? My parents don't/won't do this themselves so it will just be the kids.

They are extremely frugal (cheap even) so there is money to help if we knew what to do.

Any direction would be appreciated. 1 sister who lives in the same town is shouldering almost all of this and it is really more than a single person can manage on her own.

 

I see it's been a while since you've posted, but I just wanted to ask how things ended up working out with your folks. My parents are starting to slow down too, and I’m trying to figure out what little changes can really make a big difference for them day-to-day. Did you ever find anything simple that helped the most, or maybe something you’d do differently now?

 

One thing that helped us a lot was getting a carers card uk. It gave us discounts on things like transport and local shops, and made it easier to prove our care role in emergencies. I didn’t even know it was a thing until someone on a local forum mentioned it. It can be a small but useful support, especially when you're juggling so much already.