For some of us, it’s taken a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis to underscore how much our aging parents need our support and connection in order to successfully continue to “age in place.” From food supplies to doctor’s visits, what we once took for granted we may now need to explicitly address as our aging loved ones try to navigate life in lock-down. And while you may be thinking that a congregate setting may ultimately be a better environment given the needs of your aging parent, expert Carolyn Rosenblatt urges you not to think about transfers to independent or assisted living during the pandemic, while also imploring you to carefully vet home care helpers that may now be invited into your parents’ home.

In the meantime, given the limitations of life during the coronavirus, you may now know more about your aging parents’ situation, and be more involved in their affairs, than you previously anticipated. For example, are you now helping them negotiate medical care that they previously handled themselves? While many have taken the plunge into telemedicine, some situations still require in-person appointments, and you may even find yourself sitting in front of their physician while a medical condition is addressed. How should you conduct yourself during such a visit? A recent article in The Wall Street Journal warns that your older loved one (provided he or she has decision-making capacity) needs to take the lead on both the level of your involvement and the input you should provide. If you’ve come to terms with how much you should know or say, make sure the provider is aware of the agreement. You don’t want the physician to bypass the actual patient if it can be helped. And what about finances? Are you now intimately involved in your parents’ bill paying or budgeting? Kiplinger has a list of suggestions to help you ensure your parent(s) has the means and money to continue to live the good life, and once again Carolyn Rosenblatt has good advice for those of you dealing with aging parents who are spending beyond their means.

Finally, perhaps now more than ever it’s time to introduce smart technology into your parents’ home, and as you can imagine, the options are practically limitless. Whether it’s a virtual Thanksgiving celebration or just an everyday check-in, there are lots of options to help you stay on top of your parents’ needs while at the same time respecting their level of independence.  Probably the biggest news in this area is the just-announced introduction of Amazon’s Care Hub through it’s Alexa virtual assistant device. With a relatively easy format for installation, the Care Hub will allow an older relative to call you with just a voice command and will permit you to track their interaction with the device (though not the details of what they watch or listen to) so that you can rest assured they are up and active during the day. It’s a free service that requires both parties to have linked Amazon accounts and will require your loved one to extend an invitation to you before you can begin such monitoring. Amazon claims the service will evolve and expand as they receive user feedback, but if you’re curious about other platforms that may offer additional features, consider the competition by clicking here.