Red Flags to Call A Geriatric Care Manager After Thanksgiving

It’s post Thanksgiving and pre Christmas and Hanukkah- that loved and dreaded holiday season. Maybe your joy is mixed with  YIKES because you suspect your holiday visit to aging relatives could have some scary scenes. Here are some red flags to put in a checklist and share with your midlife siblings before the holiday call. If alarm bells go off it may be time to call a geriatric care manager and have a family meeting.
Perhaps you find older parents have piles of junk mail, stained dirty attire, unwrapped gifts when Mom used to shine through her color coordinated presents. All are cause for the 911 alarm- then action.

You can use this list to assess your parents or older family members during the holidays and compare notes on a post holiday conference call. If all midlife siblings have the same criteria, it makes easier to agree what to do and what to flag as family New Year’s resolutions.

Below is a list of red flags. If you see any red signals on Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or face them on Christmas- now is the time to do something about it. Use this is a checklist of some worrisome signs you may have seen.
Alarm Bells List for Visiting Long Distance Relatives During the Holidays
Unpaid bills
Missed appointments
Clutter in a home that was once always neat
Weight loss
Memory loss, change in short-term memory
Poor grooming by a person who was once meticulous
Getting lost
Wandering
Refusing to go with friends on outings or to religious services
refusing any suggestion or conversely agreeing to everything with-out consideration
Mood swings
Refusing to go to medical providers
Can’ take care of activities of daily living: cooking, bathing, dressing, housekeeping, etc.
Entering contests, credit card maxed out on shopping channels

These alarm bells mean time have the come to Jesus talk with older parents and moving or getting help.

If this is the last straw on the holidays- call a geriatric care manager to help you help your parents through 2015 and you through the dreaded season