When Your Parents Need Elder Care: Lessons From The Front Lines

"We have learned the great cost of not planning ahead. One cost was my mother going through more than a dozen moves in 5 years - hospitals, nursing homes, her own house, apartment, and assisted living. This was traumatic for her."The fastest growing part of the aging population is the 85+ age group. As of 2005, more than 40% of US families are more concerned with caring for an aging parent than a child. But too many of us are unprepared for the decisions we make with and about our own parents -- when their living situations prove inadequate and their health fails. And this, despite plenty of advice from websites, books, lawyers, tax attorneys and all the preparations our parents themselves may have made.Too often, this lack of preparation results in poorly thought out choices, trauma for the parent and misery for the adult child. This book targets the adult child's dilemmas, arguing that planning for your parents' aging is one of your own life stages and should begin while your parents are still healthy and able to discuss their preferences.