So many of us take the time to plan for our retirement years. Whether you hope to work on your golf game, travel the world or spend your time at a lake home, those days have been thoughtfully planned from a financial perspective. You may even have a will or living trust prepared and expressed your wishes for funeral arrangements, but what about the time between the fun, active retirement years and your last days on earth? Have you planned for that?
In a survey conducted by Home Instead, Inc., franchisor of the Home Instead Senior Care network, 85 percent of North American seniors who have made plans for their final years agree that planning is a chance to decide how their life song ends. Los Angeles undertaker and author Caitlin Doughty understands it can be difficult to grasp the value of planning one’s final years. However, going through the planning process can create a more peaceful and meaningful transition into one’s later years and leads to what Doughty refers to as the “good death”. For Doughty, the good death includes being prepared to die, with all her affairs in order and it means accepting death as inevitable and not fighting it when the time comes.
To encourage conversations about loved ones’ wishes for their final years of life Home Instead Inc. has launched their latest public education campaign, Compose Your Life Song℠: Planning Your Final Years. This program will reinforce the role Home Instead Senior Care plays in helping seniors live their final years where they choose – in their own home. The Compose Your Life Song℠ public education program offers free resources that encourage seniors and their family members to have the difficult conversations about plans and wishes for their final years, while also exploring end-of-life options, including finances and getting affairs in order. This program will also provide insurance, care and funeral planning.
Watch as Home Instead Senior Care Minneapolis’ co-owner, Kathleen Stuck, explains what the Compose Your Life Song℠ program is all about:
Tips on How to Begin the Final Wishes Conversation
Although the discussion can be difficult, knowing the final wishes of a senior loved one can bring clarity and comfort to the family members during end-of-life situations, including hospice. Tips on How to Begin the Final Wishes Conversation:
- Don’t stress
- Listen and keep an open mind
- Move on if it’s uncomfortable
- Consider using photos or family heirlooms as conversation starters
Read more tips as well as detailed information for each one by clicking here. You can also read Collette’s poignant story about how she was able to make healthcare decisions for her father knowing his final wishes.
6 Ways to Get Started on a Final Years Plan
Ok, so you’ve had the difficult conversations about end-of-life wishes. Now it’s time to move to the next step and actually plan for one’s final years. Home Instead Senior Care Minneapolis understand this also is a difficult process, but one that can create a more peaceful and meaningful transition into your loved one’s later years in life. We believe that incorporating some of the tips from 6 Ways to Get Started on a Final Years Plan could lead to a more calm and organized planning process:
- Consider personality and preference.
- Talk it out. Communicate with loved ones.
- Identify people who can help plan.
- Decide how to handle finances.
- Complete a personal planning guide.
- Think about a bucket list.
Read more on each of these ways to get started as well as additional resources, including a Compose Your Life Song℠ Music Generator.
Working through the myths and misconceptions of making those final years’ decisions can actually empower family caregivers to help their loved ones make choices that will bring them peace of mind when the time comes.
Learn more about Home Instead Senior Care’s public education program along with free resources and tips to help guide you through the important conversations and planning for your loved one’s final years by visiting www.composeyourlifesong.com. Start composing your meaningful life song today.
Home Instead Senior Care Minneapolis understands the stress the working family caregivers face and offers a wide range of in-home care services, including respite care, personal care, 24-hour and live-in care and Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The loving and experienced CAREGivers at Home Instead Senior Care Minneapolis offer friendly, responsive care for seniors right in your Minneapolis, Minnesota community, as well as support for the family. To inquire about any of our senior services available or becoming a CAREGiver, call us at 763-544-5988 today.
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