Death and Dying – Care of Aging Parents

Death is integral to life. While many would rather not bring up and discuss death as a topic, all would eventually face death in a period of life. Death is often accompanied be fear and pain even with the thought or belief of an afterlife or life beyond death. The uncertainty of death has left many wondering and raising questions of what happens after death. Many have tried to give answers to the questions which led to many beliefs and philosophies on the topic. The popular belief of a life after death however brings relief to survivors of the deceased in the stages of coping with the loss.

Sometimes death is viewed with indifference when the deceased is not of close relationship or not of influence to a person. The weight of the death of a person depends upon the life he or she has spent with the survivors. And the heaviest death is that of persons closest to the hearts of the survivors or who became part of the life of the survivors. The death or the reality of a near death of parents, who reared the children with love and care for many years, is perhaps one of the challenges of a family. The parents serve as foundations of a family and their death would be a big loss.

For children, taking care of elderly is a responsibility. They make sure competent care is given during their dependent years.

Physical care and support

Parents in their old age need physical care and support. This means providing the special medical attention for the longevity of their life. At an old age, parents are very prone to sickness and diseases as organs and body systems weaken and deteriorate. They need to have a diet that is suitable to their health and wellness. Providing physical care and support also means assistance for their bones and muscles to remain functional such as light exercises and therapies. If not they may need help in daily physical activities such as walking, standing up and bathing. This could be done with the help of a nurse or a caregiver. They also need technical facilities to aid them physically such as walking canes, wheel chairs, bars, therapeutic facilities and others to make moving easier for them.

Taking care or elderly parents may be difficult but it would be very fulfilling and rewarding to children. They also have no regrets knowing they have done their responsibility and returned the love and care that their parents have given them.