Care of Aging Parents Issue 6 Home Page

Children Become the Caretakers Ana A. López from Mexico tells how families work out solutions together to provide care for their aging parents Photo: S. Peters In my country, elderly parents usually stay with their children. Children become their caretakers. In many countries, the period of life expectancy is longer, and many middle-age children are taking care of their elderly parents. This can be very difficult because they will probably need somebody to be with them all the time. Children can feel that they are losing their privacy. If they decide to put their parents in a nursing home, they feel ashamed because they think it is their duty to care for them as their parents took care of them when they were children. In my country, elderly parents usually stay with their children. Children become their caretakers. This is one solution, but this situation is hard because the children already have their own families and other compromises. Children share the responsibilities of caring for their parents, but usually their daughters or daughters-in-law are the ones who take care of them. Their sons' contribution is mainly financial aid. For women this can be a great strain because they might also need to take care of their children and spouse. Another solution in my country is to pay a nurse that can take care of aging parents. Children will share the amount of money that they have to pay for this service. Having a person that can take care of their parents makes life easier for them. In this situation, they only have to be provide a companionship to their parents for a few hours a week or whenever their parents ask them to go someplace with them. These two solutions are common, but the use of nursing homes to provide care for parents, at least in my city, is unusual.  More international views: It's Difficult for Aging Parents | Families Share the Responsibility It's a Problem in Western Societies   Return to: The Care of Aging Parents | Issue 6 | Home Page  TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2007- Sandy and Thomas Peters - topics.mag@gmail.com