Hire a regular housekeeping service.
Be sure to schedule it for the day before garbage day so the trash gets taken out. The bigger companies like Merrymaids.com and Mollymaids.com allow you to set up payments through your bank's online bill pay service.
Order groceries online.
For parents with transportation or mobility issues, online grocery orders and home delivery save you trips to the store and let you rest easy that there's something in the fridge. Safeway.com , Albertsons.com, Planetorganics.com, and Peapod.com offer online ordering and home delivery. Some of these services will save your shopping history so you can place the same order for basics every week with just a couple of clicks.
If your parent isn't up to cooking, have meals delivered.
Meals on Wheels brings prepared meals to frail seniors. Find your local organization at Mowaa.org.
Set up regular pet care through a local service.
If you can't afford to hire someone to do walk your parents' dog or take care of other pet chores, check local nonprofit and charity organizations, such as Volunteers of America, which do this for free for seniors.
If down stream you see a need for more care for your senior you probably need to start now if these 9 ideas are needed. I chose to have a 24 hour caregiver with my Dad but it took a year and a half of dripping on him before it became his idea as well. His 1st response was "Not in my house." Within days after the caregiver arrived he acknowledged that it was a good idea.
think small: an electric tea kettle is a humble thing, but it may keep the house from being burned down.
These are all sensible things to consider. More fundamentally it is important NOT to 'infantilze' elderly people but to recognize what they can and like to do and even encourage then to 'stretch' their abilities a bit. Longer term survival depends on actually 'flourishing' a bit here & there and keeping alive, even developing their mindfulness and sense of self-efficacy.
when i read this it looks as if it is for the rich. where I live, the context you bring, seems wasteful, wealthy and selfish. having an individual home, for me and my friends seems a pipe dream away.
For a nutritious snack that helps keep the bowels regular try Gudernoobs made by WooHoo Foods!
All good ideas...my husband and I may start implementing some of these for ourselves! (for later, of course)