DESIGNING A CARE PLAN FOR YOUR AGING PARENTS

Parents just don’t understand. But neither do adult children! If you have concerns about keeping an aging parent safe, you may be tempted to take over and start making the decisions for them. But Barbara Newman-Mannix argues that there are ways to compromise on common sense solutions that afford your parents their autonomy AND ensure their well-being.

Barbara is the founder of A Dignified Life, a company that helps individuals and families develop care plans for elders and family members with special needs. They assess safety, cultural influences and family dynamics to address individual needs and connect families with the necessary social service professionals, attorneys and benefits specialists. Barbara’s interest in the field stems from her experience navigating the health care, insurance, legal and financial challenges she faced when her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She established A Dignified Life to fill that gap in the market and help adult children better manage their parents’ lives with compassion and respect.

Today, Barbara joins Katherine to discuss the challenges families face in communicating with aging parents. She walks us through the role A Dignified Life plays in facilitating conversation around care and how their service encourages compromise between parents and their adult children. Barbara addresses the issue of driving, offering insight around using third-party resources to look at the situation objectively. Listen in to understand the distinction between dementia and age-appropriate forgetfulness and learn how A Dignified Life can help you and your parents grow into your new roles.