Housing

• Article - Bathroom Safety

  All components of the bathroom should be safe and easy for an elderly parent to use. Practical ideas for setting up a safe bathroom.

• Article - Planning Your Parents' Move: A Step-by-Step Guide

  How to help your parents make the move to assisted living or a nursing home. Avoid pitfalls and find the right situation for your parent.

• Checklist - 10 Gadgets That Could Help Keep Your Parents Living at Home

  10 innovative gadgets that can make it easier for your aging parents to remain independent in their home.

• Checklist - 9 Things to Automate When a Forgetful Parent Wants to Continue Living at Home

  Tasks and chores you can take off your parent's hands so that they can stay independent longer.

• Article - Making Your Parent's Bedroom Safer After a Stroke

  How to make your elderly parent's bedroom safe and comfortable after a stroke. Plus, how to help him keep as much privacy and autonomy as possible.

• Article - ECHO (elder cottage housing opportunity): A Backyard Solution for Senior Housing

  What is an ECHO? An elder cottage housing opportunity (ECHO) is a small, temporary senior housing unit that can be installed in a backyard.

• Article - Sorting the Stuff: A Step-by-Step Guide to Organizing Your Parent's Move (Without Getting Disowned)

  Read these six easy steps to learn how to help your parent take stock of a lifetime's worth of belongings before moving to a new home.

• Article - Making Your Parent's Bathroom Safer After a Stroke

  A bathroom can be dangerous for someone who's had a stroke. Here's how to help your elderly parent bathe, groom, and use the toilet safely.

• Interview - Talking With David Solie

  How geriatric psychologist and author David Solie dealt with care giving for his 87-year-old mother when she refused to leave her home.

• Article - Making Your Parent's Home Safer After a Stroke

  Tips and resources for making your elderly parent's home safe after a stroke, whether he’s partially paralyzed, in a wheelchair, or uses a walker.

• Article - Reverse Mortgages: A Beginner's Guide

  Reverse Mortgage: A Beginner's Guide. A free informative guide on reverse mortgages.

• Article - How to Tell if Your Parent With Alzheimer's Needs Assisted Living

  How to tell if your parent with Alzheimer's needs assisted living. These questions will help you decide whether your parent needs more assistance.

• Article - A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Your Parents Set Up a Home Share

  How to find the right housemate for your elderly parents: Help them save money, stay in their home, and get support while keeping them safe.

• Article - Assisted Living: A Beginner's Guide

  Assisted Living: A Beginner's Guide. How to choose the right assisted living facility for your parent.

• Article - How to Get the Help You'll Need to Care for Your Parent With Cancer

  Comprehensive information on getting help when caring for a parent with cancer. Related information is available in the cancer section of Caring.com.

• Article - How Much Care Will Your Parent Need After a Stroke?

  How to assess how much care and help your parent will need after a stroke.

Blog Posts

• Blog Post - Aggression, Fighting Common Among Nursing Home Residents

  High levels of aggression and fighting are common among nursing home residents. Experts offer advice for helping aging parents manage aggression from fellow nursing home residents.

• Blog Post - Parents Are From Venus, We're From Mars

  A simple online test promises to assess your "conversational relationship" with your parents. The bottom line: If you're not talking about the big stuff now, you'd better start.

Questions & Answers

• Question - Should I take my 80-something parents with me to check out assisted living facilities for them or go alone?

  This question has been answered by two Community Members

• Question - Can my mom try out an assisted-living home before she commits to it?

  Is it possible to try out assisted living before committing to it? Yes, some assisted living homes allow people to live there for a short time first.

• Question - How can I convince my pack-rat mother, whom I'm moving into a smaller apartment, to let go of all her junk?

  My mother is a pack rat. I need to move her into an apartment but she refuses to throw anything away. How do I convince her to let go of all her junk?

• Question - How can I prescreen assisted-living facilities so I don't have to tour every one?

  When you're looking for assisted living, how do you narrow down the choices? Here are tips for screening assisted living facilities ahead of time.

• Question - Should I get a reverse mortgage or a bank loan for my elderly folks?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - How do I resolve a family conflict so I can visit my mother?

  My sister lives with my mother, and is making it hard to visit Mom and make sure she is okay.

• Question - What's an assisted-living community fee and how much is it?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What are reverse mortgages?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What is the average cost of assisted living community fees in Westchester county in NY state?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How do I convince my mother to move to be closer even though she's overwhelmed with the thought of moving all of her stuff?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Should my mom's house remain unchanged even though she has memory problems?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What could be wrong with my mother-in-law who makes irrational decisions and wets herself, yet the hospital says she's competent?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What can I do if my mom's nursing home is mistreating her and I live out of state?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - I divorced two years ago and my Mother offered me her house...

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - How do we buy a house back that had a reverse mortage?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How can I ease tensions between my grandmother, myself and my roommates?

  My grandmother is living with me and my roommates, and can't pay her share of the bills.

• Question - How do I help my elderly mother deal with the loss of her pets?

  When someone moves into assisted living, does he have to give up his pets? If so, what should you do with his pets once he moves into assisted living?

• Question - How can I convince my mother to move to a safer place near me?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - The nursing home wants my father to leave because he's hard to manage; what are my options?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - With both parents in a nursing home and me with power of attorney, can I protect their savings and house?

  Once both parents are in a nursing home, it's difficult to protect their assets. They'll have to use most of those assets to pay for their own care before Medicaid kicks in.

• Question - Are there special housing facilities for Parkinson's patients?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - What's the difference between a senior real estate specialist and a garden-variety real estate agent?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

Tips & Reflections

• Reflection - What I Wish I'd Known: David Solie

  David Solie, author of How to Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap With Our Elders, says comforting parents is a critical part of care giving.

• Tip - Double up on Help

  If you're hiring an in-home health aide for your parents...

• Tip - Map the Move

  When organizing for a move, label anything that's going...

• Tip - A Photo Album Full of Memories

  If your parents are claiming that every last item in...

• Tip - Wheelchair Reality Check

  If you're working on making your parents' home more...

• Tip - For Long-Term Income, Opt for an Insured Reverse Mortgage

  Many private reverse mortgages aren't insured...

• Tip - Saving Space by Storing Clothes

  To save precious space in your parents' itty-bitty...

• Tip - Power Lunch, Nursing Home Style

  The best time to visit a nursing home is at lunch,...

• Tip - A Dark Bath Mat Makes Tub Less Scary for Some Alzheimer's Patients

  Some people with Alzheimer's or dementia have trouble...