Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources: Checklist for Elderly Living Alone – What to Look for When You Visit
By Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH
The following excerpt is reprinted with permission from Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources.
Many seniors live alone without any problems. However, this isn’t always the case. Aging brings with it many challenges and a person’s ability to care for themselves may decrease over time, to the point that living alone becomes dangerous.
This is why it’s so important for you to have a checklist for elderly living alone. Adult children can use such a checklist to make sure their aging parents are still doing well and taking care of themselves.
A good checklist will highlight critical areas for you to keep an eye on, ones that you can look at discreetly. For example, a fridge full of out-of-date food may suggest memory issues. If the senior appears to be eating some of this out-of-date food, their health may be even more at risk.
The Purpose of a Checklist for Elderly Living Alone
Why might you consider this type of checklist? Here are a few reasons.
They Help You Keep Track
Sometimes issues with seniors living alone are obvious, like when they have a fall or aren’t eating well. Others are much easier to miss. A checklist helps make sure you don’t miss issues simply because you’re not aware of them.
Plus, with a list you fill out, you can track changes over time.
You might fill out the list every month or two, then look back at the end of the year. Do the number of issues increase as time goes on? If so, a change in living situation might be needed.
They Highlight Areas Where Change Is Needed
Checklists can help you solve problems, as they show you the specific areas that your aging parents are struggling with. For example, if the house is regularly unclean, but there are no other serious issues, your parents might not have the energy or enthusiasm to clean regularly. Hiring a cleaner once a week could make life much easier for them and less stressful for you.
Similarly, if the senior isn’t showering often, you could look into ways to make showering easier. Even a simple shower stool can make the world of difference, as standing in the shower can become difficult.
They Show When Living at Alone is No Longer Safe
If the checklist regularly reveals multiple issues, despite your efforts to find solutions, it might not be safe for your parents to live on their own anymore.
Your notes on the checklist might even help to convince them of this, as you can clearly show where they’re struggling and why their current situation isn’t working for them any more.
Angelica Herrera VensonAngelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH is a gerontologist born in San Diego and raised on both sides of the U.S-Mexico border. She’s a public health advocate who has spent two decades in community health work and research investigating how immigrant and racial /ethnic minority family caregivers and seniors navigate old age and seek out health and elder care. Today, Angelica supports some of Arizona’s community health centers, which serve primarily Medicaid and underserved communities, in their transition to value-based care.
About Multicultural Guide to Caregiving
Author and gerontologist, Angelica P. Herrera Venson, DrPH, opens up and shares her family’s personal stories and lessons from her field work and research on aging and caregiving with communities of color and first generation Americans.