ADDING AN OLDER ADULT TO THE HOUSEHOLD
Sharing a home with an older adult has some advantages and disadvantages. In most cases, these advantages, and disadvantages, depending on the older adult’s health and level of independence. Sharing a home with an older adult may give rise to some potential areas of conflict in my life. My family structure is that of a nuclear family; a husband, two teenage boys, and a girl. Every home in my house is fully furnished including my guest home. So having an older adult move in with possessions will be a hard decision to accept. I will be left to either empty the room off my belongs or allow just a few special belongings from my new household member. With the new addition, I will have to take extra work shifts in other to avoid financial strain on my family, and this will affect family time.
It is very important that families are educated on what to
expect or have done in preparation for an older adult becoming a member of the household.
Adding an older adult to the household requires a lot of preparation. You have to know the needs of the new member and of the family, and how these needs can be met. You have to allot space for the new member. Planning should be done on including the older adult in the existing family pattern, what community resources can assist the older adult to adjust to the new environment, is the new environment safe, how will this transition affect your family life, and how your family feels and as well as knowing the skills and talents that the older adult has (Touhy & Jett, 2020)
There are different family structures, and they operate
differently. A family structure that has young children may be more welcoming
to having an older adult becoming a member of the household because the new
member may assist with childcare thereby saving them daycare fees.
In another family structure, there may be a great need for
companionship maybe for an existing member of the family, so having a new older
adult in the household may likely solve the problem. Some other family
structure may be such that takes care of their older adults as their responsibilities,
they are more aware of their needs and work to resolve problems while finding
ways to meet the needs of members.
Many family caregivers support their loved ones at a significant cost to their own physical, emotional, and financial well-being but no matter the family structure, it is important to recognize potential areas of conflict and ways to decrease areas of conflict.
It is important to discuss space allocation, especially if
someone has given up their space to an older relative. When I had a smaller
home, and my father-in-law came to stay with us, it was hard for my son to give
up his room for him, so we had to have a round table discussion with him, then
another one with my father-in-law present. After this, he came to an
understanding that he did an honorable thing and set a good example for his
younger siblings to emulate. His grandfather also appreciated the fact that he
gave up his room for him.
You should make a clear decision about the household task.
Out of respect for the new member of my household, we were doing everything for
him thinking we were helping him, until he started complaining of being bored, and
not having anything to do. His Son started becoming worried about his father
and I approached him and asked him what we could do to make his stay smoother,
then he said he needs to be doing things himself that he can do laundry, help
with the lawn as well as help make dinners. So, we gave in to his request
except for the dinner part because he forgot to turn off the stove on time.
References
Touhy, T.A. (2020). Relationships, roles, and transitions.
In T.A. Touhy & K. Jett (Eds.), Ebersole & Hess' Toward healthy aging:
Human needs and nursing responses (10th ed. pp. 452 - 469). Elsevier.
NIH National institute on aging (NIA) (2022). Healthy Aging Tips for
the Older Adults in Your Life. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/healthy-aging-tips-older-adults-in-your-life
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