How do I help an aging parent if I live far away?

How do I help an aging parent if I live far away?

Karl Steinberg (Associate Medical Director, Sharp Mission Park Medical Group) gives expert video advice on: What is a geriatric care manager?; How do I find a geriatric care manager?; How do I find long-term care for a chronically ill parent? and more...

One of the hardest situations is when you live in one city and your aging, ailing parents live somewhere else. I know from personal experience, you can feel very helpless, you can feel guilty because you're not right on the scene when things happen and, and you feel bewildered because you just don't know what's going on with them on a day to day basis. I think obviously the best thing to do is have somebody there that you can really trust to serve as your eyes and ears. Talk to them often. Sometimes even if they aren't the kind to complain or they don't want to alarm you, you can tell certain things from talking to them. Visit your parents as often as you can and, you can do what I did, just go scoop your mom up and bring her to where you live, but you're likely to meet some resistance in those situations. But again, having a reliable family member near by is a great thing, and if you don't have that then you may want to contact the local area agency on aging or home health agency, their doctor, nowadays with the privacy laws, the HIPPA legislation, you have to sure that they clear it with the doctor to be able to discuss things with you, but keeping in contact with their physician can be something that also can be very reassuring and can also give you a little heads-up when something is brewing.