Housing

• Article - Planning Your Parents' Move: A Step-by-Step Guide

  How to help your parents make the move to assisted living or a nursing home. Avoid pitfalls and find the right situation for your parent.

• Checklist - 9 Things to Automate When a Forgetful Parent Wants to Continue Living at Home

  Tasks and chores you can take off your parent's hands so that they can stay independent longer.

• Article - Bathroom Safety

  All components of the bathroom should be safe and easy for an elderly parent to use. Practical ideas for setting up a safe bathroom.

• Article - Sorting the Stuff: A Step-by-Step Guide to Organizing Your Parent's Move (Without Getting Disowned)

  Read these six easy steps to learn how to help your parent take stock of a lifetime's worth of belongings before moving to a new home.

• Interview - Talking With David Solie

  How geriatric psychologist and author David Solie dealt with care giving for his 87-year-old mother when she refused to leave her home.

• Article - A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Your Parents Set Up a Home Share

  How to find the right housemate for your elderly parents: Help them save money, stay in their home, and get support while keeping them safe.

• Article - ECHO (elder cottage housing opportunity): A Backyard Solution for Senior Housing

  What is an ECHO? An elder cottage housing opportunity (ECHO) is a small, temporary senior housing unit that can be installed in a backyard.

• Article - How to Get the Help You'll Need to Care for Your Parent With Cancer

  Comprehensive information on getting help when caring for a parent with cancer. Related information is available in the cancer section of Caring.com.

• Article - Assisted Living: A Beginner's Guide

  Assisted Living: A Beginner's Guide. How to choose the right assisted living facility for your parent.

• Article - Making Your Parent's Bedroom Safer After a Stroke

  How to make your elderly parent's bedroom safe and comfortable after a stroke. Plus, how to help him keep as much privacy and autonomy as possible.

• Article - Reverse Mortgages: A Beginner's Guide

  Reverse Mortgage: A Beginner's Guide. A free informative guide on reverse mortgages.

• Article - Making Your Parent's Bathroom Safer After a Stroke

  A bathroom can be dangerous for someone who's had a stroke. Here's how to help your elderly parent bathe, groom, and use the toilet safely.

• Article - How to Tell if Your Parent With Alzheimer's Needs Assisted Living

  How to tell if your parent with Alzheimer's needs assisted living. These questions will help you decide whether your parent needs more assistance.

• Article - Making Your Parent's Home Safer After a Stroke

  Tips and resources for making your elderly parent's home safe after a stroke, whether he’s partially paralyzed, in a wheelchair, or uses a walker.

• Article - How Much Care Will Your Parent Need After a Stroke?

  How to assess how much care and help your parent will need after a stroke.

Blog Posts

• Blog Post - Nursing Home Evictions Underscore Need to Plan Ahead

  Nursing homes are evicting growing numbers of elderly residents. Here's how to protect seniors from nursing home evictions by establishing an eldercare plan.

• Blog Post - Assisted Living in Challenging Times -- Planning Is the Key

  Assisted living faces rising costs and other pressures, which makes planning for assisted living both challenging and necessary.

• Blog Post - Does Older = Wiser?

  Help for caregivers who are having conflicts with elderly parents and other relatives.

• Blog Post - Parents Are From Venus, We're From Mars

  A simple online test promises to assess your "conversational relationship" with your parents. The bottom line: If you're not talking about the big stuff now, you'd better start.

• Blog Post - A Toolkit for Starting Aging in Place Communities

  A new website, norcbluerpint.org, offers tools for seniors aging in place who are interested in starting NORCs (Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities).

• Blog Post - Aggression, Fighting Common Among Nursing Home Residents

  High levels of aggression and fighting are common among nursing home residents. Experts offer advice for helping aging parents manage aggression from fellow nursing home residents.

Questions & Answers

• Question - Should I take my 80-something parents with me to check out assisted living facilities for them or go alone?

  This question has been answered by two Community Members

• Question - Can my mom try out an assisted-living home before she commits to it?

  Is it possible to try out assisted living before committing to it? Yes, some assisted living homes allow people to live there for a short time first.

• Question - Are there any housing options for chronic alcoholics?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - Should I get a reverse mortgage or a bank loan for my elderly folks?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How can I prescreen assisted-living facilities so I don't have to tour every one?

  When you're looking for assisted living, how do you narrow down the choices? Here are tips for screening assisted living facilities ahead of time.

• Question - What's the difference between a senior real estate specialist and a garden-variety real estate agent?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What is the average cost of assisted living community fees in Westchester county in NY state?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What are reverse mortgages?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What's an assisted-living community fee and how much is it?

  What is an assisted living community fee? Is it usual for assisted living communities to charge community fees upon move-in?

• Question - How can I get my parents to simplify their affairs before something happens?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - What can I do if my mom's nursing home is mistreating her and I live out of state?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - If my dad and I jointly own a home, can Medicaid still take it to pay for long-term care expenses associated with a nursing home?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Should my mom's house remain unchanged even though she has memory problems?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How do I resolve a family conflict so I can visit my mother?

  My sister lives with my mother, and is making it hard to visit Mom and make sure she is okay.

• Question - How can I convince my mother to move to a safer place near me?

  My mother isn't safe in her home, but won't consider moving.

• Question - The nursing home wants my father to leave because he's hard to manage; what are my options?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - How do I help my elderly mother deal with the loss of her pets?

  When someone moves into assisted living, does he have to give up his pets? If so, what should you do with his pets once he moves into assisted living?

• Question - What could be wrong with my mother-in-law who makes irrational decisions and wets herself, yet the hospital says she's competent?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How can I convince my pack-rat mother, whom I'm moving into a smaller apartment, to let go of all her junk?

  My parent needs to move, but she's a pack rat. How do I convince this hoarder to get rid of some of the junk so she can move into a smaller place?

Tips & Reflections

• Tip - Map the Move

  When organizing for a move, label anything that's going...

• Tip - Double up on Help

  If you're hiring an in-home health aide for your parents...

• Reflection - What I Wish I'd Known About Caregiving Priorities: Caring.com Expert/Geriatric Psychologist David Solie

  David Solie, author of How to Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap With Our Elders, says comforting parents is a critical part of care giving.

• Tip - Power Lunch, Nursing Home Style

  The best time to visit a nursing home is at lunch,...

• Tip - For Long-Term Income, Opt for an Insured Reverse Mortgage

  Many private reverse mortgages aren't insured...

• Tip - A Photo Album Full of Memories

  If your parents are claiming that every last item in...

• Tip - Wheelchair Reality Check

  If you're working on making your parents' home more...

• Tip - Saving Space by Storing Clothes

  To save precious space in your parents' itty-bitty...

• Tip - A Dark Bath Mat Makes Tub Less Scary for Some Alzheimer's Patients

  Some people with Alzheimer's or dementia have trouble...