The Border Mail

How to help your elderly parents keep their independence and stay at home longer

This article is advertiser content for LiveBetter.

How would you feel if you knew your elderly parents had the extra help they needed to continue living independently in their own home?

You can’t be there as much as you (or they) would like. Chances are you already have plenty on your plate or don’t live nearby. And that’s OK.

Your parents could be like eighty-one-year-old Daphne, who has always wanted to remain as independent as possible, but with her son living in Sydney, she realised she needed some help at home. Daphne has been a Level 2 Home Care Package recipient for more than a year, so she can access multiple services to enable her to continue living at home.

Services including cleaning, support with shopping, meal preparation, twice-weekly wellness checks and transport to get her to appointments and her much-loved bingo games.

Daphne says: “The LiveBetter staff are so nice and helpful and will do anything to help me. Having help means I can spend time doing things I enjoy and when my son comes to visit we can just spend time together without him having to run around taking me here and there”. 

Daphne's Level 2 Home Care Package includes services such as cleaning, support with shopping, meal preparation, twice-weekly wellness checks and transport.
Daphne's Level 2 Home Care Package includes services such as cleaning, support with shopping, meal preparation, twice-weekly wellness checks and transport.

Much like Daphne, couple Alan and Lisa (both in their 80’s) can’t do as much in and around their home as they used to. With Alan having suffered multiple heart attacks, he’s got more medical appointments these days which can be a struggle to get to.  

The couple realised it was beyond them to hang up wet washing, clean their house properly and maintain their garden. It was too much to prune trees and push the lawnmower up a steep incline in their yard too.

Alan now receives a Level 2 Home Care Package and gets assistance with gardening, personal care, cleaning and transport to medical appointments.

Alan says: “We realised if you do a bit too much you suffer for it. You have to ration your energies and it’s a great relief knowing that if I can’t do it, there’s someone we can get to do it.

“We also don’t want to rely on our children. They’ve got their own lives to live. We’re very independent people and being able to stay together as we age is our greatest wish.”

He says having LiveBetter’s support workers “is a huge help and really takes the worry off us”.

LiveBetter's assistance has really taken the pressure off Alan and Lisa, knowing with their help they will be able to stay together as they age.
LiveBetter's assistance has really taken the pressure off Alan and Lisa, knowing with their help they will be able to stay together as they age.

LiveBetter Aged Care Coordinator, Rhiannon coordinates Alan and Lisa’s services. She is chuffed her job is to help people continue living in their own home independently. She’s surprised by how often people don’t think they’re entitled to such services.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people wait until something drastic happens (like a fall or hospitalisation) before thinking about in-home care services.

However, a Home Care Package can provide relief, help avoid inactivity and isolation and reduce a person’s risk of injury. Importantly, it can also slow down the need for even greater support (like a Nursing Home). It could be clinical therapies, telehealth remote home monitoring or even widening doorways or installing grab rails,” said Rhiannon.

Does the support and care that Daphne, Alan and Lisa receive sound like a good fit for your elderly parents? If so, LiveBetter can help make it happen.

There are three steps to start organising help at home:

  1. Discuss service options – Call your local LiveBetter Aged Care Consultant to chat about services that suit you and your family
  2. Navigate the maze – We will guide you through the ‘My Aged Care’ assessment process
  3. Start living better – We start delivering services, so your loved one can get back to doing the things they enjoy

Services can be subsidised by aged care funding (such as Home Care Packages, Commonwealth Home Support Programme and Veterans’ Home Care) or you can simply purchase services yourself. We’re happy to talk you through the options.

Get in touch now to find out more by calling 1800 580 580 or visit LiveBetter.  

This article is advertiser content for LiveBetter.