Getting Elderly Parents Organized in the New Year.

With the new year starting, we all get excited and hyped about setting goals and resolutions. We have the usual - eat better, exercise more, be more patient with the kids (or elderly parents), and of course, GET ORGANIZED! As we run out and buy many colorful plastic totes and labels and "Sharpies", we may tend to forget that it probably is a good idea to get mom and dad organized as well.

1) Many eldercare sites remind families of the legal paperwork that should be in place; if not start working on the Power of Attorney, Living Will, etc, --- VERY important to do. Sites to visit: Family Caregiver Alliance, Caring.com, A Place for Mom, ElderCarelink.

2) Also important are the more day-to-day tasks to get a handle one. I remember trying to get mom to let me pay the bills or at least supervise the payments - she would get the statements and want 'to look them over to make sure all charges are right'; she liked to match them up with the receipts. Fine, but what ended up happening is they would land on her desk in a mound of paper, sometimes never to resurface and then be late in payment. It took awhile but I convinced her that letting me pay the bills online was a good idea. BUT I would take the statement first, pay it, then bring it back to her telling her to look it over (which I had already done anyway) letting her know that the payment amount could be changed if there was a problem. My in-laws like to do something similar and my husband is convincing them that he can pay it online while they stand over his shoulder watching him because things were getting lost on the mound of paper on the desk. You can check with your local department of elderly affairs - here is ours so you can get an idea of what you may need to start getting more involved with. Which leads to....