As the baby boomer generation gets older, they will need special needs and services. Healthcare is always important and is usually at the top of the list.  What are some of the other needs these families within families might need.  Just asking because I lost my parents at age 23 so I am trying to learn how to relate to my friends who have or are caring for aging or elderly parents.
122941
Let me first way that I am sorry you lost your parents at such an early age- that must have been very hard to deal with. Secondly how sweet of you to want to understand what your friends are going through.\nI am trying now to find out how I can get a wheelchair ramp built for my parents house so we csn get my dad in and out more easily. He uses a walker and a wheelchair, but my mom has trouble getting him in an out of the house (they have steep steps.) \nI just finally got around to getting ahospital bad for my dad downstairs and the wheelchair through medicare. Medicare could not provide me with any suppliers-- they gave me three dentist's phone numbers for a wheel cahair and hospital bed. I finally called Apria Heathcare supplies and they took care of all the paper work for me. All I had to do was get a prescription for the equipment from my Dad's doctor.\nSome hospitals give classes on elderly care and financial advice as well---check with your local hospital.
499795
Don't we eventually go backwards, when we are babies we completely rely on everyone else to take care of us and then as we get old we need people to completely take care of us all over again so yeah we kind of go backwards.\nThis did not answer question but since when do I care about that right?
259414
I have had a devastating illness in the family. I am a Citizen. I did NOT receive help for my son. Just a kiss off. The programs are bloated with people who should NOT even qualify but by false documentation or the rules of that state of not being ALLOWED to ask if they are legal citizens take away from the LEGAL CITIZENS who have paid into the system for years. I know I am blessed my son is still alive there are sooooo many others who have lost their child through inadequate medical care due to money constraints.
140291
Because it was harder for them when they were kids. Trust me, their parents said the same thing to them when they were your age. Each generation has it a little bit easier and your parents want you to appreciate things more and not take the little things for granted/
414196
OK, so one or both of your parents isnt being mindful of their health. It is terrible to be in this position. Some people care about thier kids and friends more than they do about themselves so they let their bodies deteriorate over time. It is sad, indeed.
247988
Where do you live???  I have Seniors that need help!\nAdvertise at Dr's offices, penny-saver, etc. Ask around, open your mouth and ask older folks if they know anyone who would need your services, ask at the local Y, go to senior centers, go to your local Church and ask there.  Heavens! Well qualified workers are hard to come by.  There are quite a few companies that offer these services, apply for a job with them, perhaps they will place you. Take some EMT, and physical therapy classes.  Good Luck!
254348
unless you are planning on living in a cardboard box, or are filthy rich, you better be saving!!! minimum to set aside is 10% of your income, but that is bare bones minimum. don't count on the government of any country to help you, and if they do, it will be subsistance level only, don't expect to be warm and well fed. you have only yourselves to count on. I certainly hope your children will take care of you, but that mostly depends on how you raise them. are you raising them to believe that family is important, and that old people are to be respected and honored? are you raising them to be responsible adults and to have respect for others and themselves? even so, they could have tragedies in their own lives that prevent them from being there. and when you consider that people are living longer than ever, how do you think you are going to pay for your food, housing, medicine for all those years after retirement if you don't have some set aside? I bet if you go into a senior center or retirement home in any country, you will find plenty of people going without medicine, food, and other important things because their social security or government benefits just aren't enough. contact a financial advisor or do some research yourself and start saving and investing now.
288942
older people become more of a liability and need special care. Plus they are not productive as a young person.
216669
What age is family member?  The answers would vary.  But, for sure it is the family's demonstration of love to care for those who are weakened.  My father is very ill and the family has a schedule so that all participate in care and he does not need to die in a nursing home - but at home with people around who love him.\n\nI hope your loved one is well soon.
73333
Well, tell me why one parents look after their person, if they are born woth disability, Do you expect the parents to throw the disabled child in the dust bin. Its love that binds the parent to the offspring. They continue to take care.\n\nSimilariliy if you dont have love you may neglect your parent who is effected with cancer. \n\nRemember if you are the same effected person tomorrow in old age, do you also expect your children to abandon you?
82196
Apparently when you ask "we" make a better deal, what you really mean is government, bureaucracy, etc.  No, you can't do it that way, not with us Baby Boomers growing old the way we are.  Instead, we need mutual aid societies.  There are plenty of precedents for this concept in history, but they fell out of use when the government took over with all sorts of "help."\n\nA senior or disabled person can often be a major asset to a family.  If they do no more than pass on the history of the family, teach the younger members, be there when the rest of the family is too busy, they earn their keep.  For those who do not have families, a co-op or group home, privately owned, can be the surrogate family.  I was actively involved in co-ops when I was in college, and just as I graduated, the concept of co-ops was spreading off college campuses and into the rest of the world. Quite specifically, the idea of co-ops with a broad age range became the big experiment of that day (1970s). \n\nA housing co-op of a dozen or so adults can afford a large enough house that the first floor bedrooms can go to those who find stairs difficult.  An elevator can be installed.  The older people are there, can answer the phone, look out for the kids, help with the wisdom of their long experience, and do such chores as they are physically able to do.  They might contribute a little more to the start-up costs, due to having had longer to save, and less time to be productive.  But it is quite amazing how productive an old person can be if they are given the opportunity.  I know people in their 70s and 80s who are still quite capable of being useful, and I suspect it goes even higher in some cases.  By the time they really do need more care than they are giving, they will have earned it.\n\nI retain the idea that whatever we do for ourselves, we do easier, less expensively and more satisfyingly than what we insist be done through an enormous and wasteful government program.
391218
This is a Long-Term Care issue.  You need LTC if you need assistance with 2 of the 6 Activities of Daily Living for a period of 90 days or more, or if you suffer from an organic brain impairment, like Alzheimers disease.  ADL's are: dressing, bathing, continence, transferring, toileting and eating.\n\nIf he had LTC insurance, the insurance would pay for ALL of this and preserve his assets.\n\nI was going to suggest Long Term Care insurance, but because of the Alzheimer's he wouldn't qualify.  People should buy LTC insurance when they are HEALTHY.\n\nPresident Bush signed the Deficit Reduction Act last year.  Now if you have more than $2,000 in savings or investments, you don't qualify for government assistance for LTC. If he has 40k in the bank, he doesn't qualify for government assistance which is basically welfare.\n\nIf he gifts the money away, because of the Deficit Reduction Act, he will have to wait 5 years before he qualifies for government help.\n\nHe is on his own.\n\nI suggest talking to a Reverse Mortgage professional and getting money out of the house.  The only drawback to a reverse mortgage is when he dies, his heirs will have to pay the money back.\n\nUnfortunately by the time most people find out about this new law its too late for them.  A lot of us are going to experience this situation with our aging parents and grandparents.\n\nWhile people were busy arguing about immigration and all the other B.S., they haven't been paying attention to some of the new laws that are now in  place that benefit BIG BUSINESSES like insurance companies.\n\nI wish you and your family the best.
324356
In the United States, our consumer culture and focus on individuality rather than family and community has caused families to become spread out and less connected--both physically and emotionally.  I lived in rural Germany for several years, and I noticed, for example, that grandparents don't go to nursing homes; they move in with their children and help with the grandchildren.  Thus, they often eliminate the need for both nursing homes and child care facilities, and they have a close and cohesive family.  This can be perceived as either positive or negative, though, depending on your value system.  Historically, the American value system has emphasized the individual over the group.
303166
You are a darling.  I think that the government is trying to cut down on the population.  Bush and his cohorts only care about their own agenda, and watch out for the next war in Iran.  The senior's are not only losing their healthcare coverage, but they are being taxed twice on their incomes.  Once when they earn it, and again when they take it out of any of their personal retirement plans.  That's why a lot of seniors retire to the Bahamas.  So that the government can't get their hard earned money twice.
331901
All of my relatives from the generation before mine (Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents) died at relatively young ages.  Mostly in their 60's and early 70's from complications of such things as diabetes, high blood pressure and the like.  My mother on the other hand was diagnosed with diabetes at in her early 40's and has taken extremely good care of herself always watching what she ate.  While everyone else simply dropped dead over the years she is still here.  She has alzhiemers and is suffering miserably.  It is horrible to watch what she is going through.  I think of my uncles and aunts that ate what they wanted, smoked and drank until they just fell over, then I think of my mother's horrible suffering in her old age.  I am now middle aged and it is time for me to make some decisions that may decide the length of my life.  In weighing my options I'm beginning to lean towards enjoying everything life has to offer and leaving the end up to the fates.  At least I'll get good lasagna and if I have to go, well I'll go.  I'm not so sure I want to live a long, long life, now that I've seen the results of keeping your body healthy longer than your mind can last.  I would like to live as long as I can be relatively healthy.  I would not mind living in a nursing home if family came to see me regularly and I could keep my mind active.  I would not want to live with my children.  I don't want them to go through that for me, even if they want to.
618488
Education and healthcare. Call me boring, but that's where it's needed most. I would divide it between the two. And I was reading what one person said about teaching the English language--believe me, that is not a priority. There are special needs kids in schools who aren't getting the attention they deserve due to budget cuts. Do your homework before you open your mouth, or rather, before you type something prejudicial instead of useful. The English studies come secondary to that.
609427
i dont think any of them are important.  i think we should appreciate our parents every day and let them know we love them, not have only one speacial day for them.  every day should be special.  we shouldnt neglect the other 364 days.