Location: Online

Starts: Wednesdays: January 15th ; January 22nd ; January 29th ; February 5th ; February 12th and February 19th, 2025

Time: 5:30pm - 6:30pm PST via zoom

Expert: Kate Granigan, MSW, LICSW, C-ASWCM // CEO Fellow of the Leadership Academy of the Aging Care Association

Class Description: This popular Light House class first launched in 2021 and was featured in the Wall Street Journal. It remains one of our most requested classes, and we are pleased to offer it again.

No child ever wants to have “that” talk about how to care for their aging parents.  Having siblings or other relatives in the mix can be bittersweet.  If you are on the same page with your sibs and each one of you can identify and execute their own  personal responsibility, it is a blessing.  If there is friction among the ranks, however, it can be a nightmare and make a bad situation even worse.  Change is not easily accepted by people in their September years;  likewise, it is a disjointed and topsy-turvy foray into the unknown for the adult offspring  who are charged with their care.  Making decisions for mom and dad’s ongoing wellness, comfort, and dignity  is often tough and can  be fraught with conflict.  Making decisions when emotions are running high makes the strain even more palpable.  Knowing what to expect and understanding your options may lower the hurdles.  It can ease the transition and help you make choices that support your parents, your loved ones, and your own peace of mind.

This 6-Part series takes a deep dive into the issues we will all encounter at some time, at some level.  Aging parents will be at their most vulnerable and we, as their children, will feel at our most helpless.  This Light House series will help bridge that deep divide and foster a renewed spirit of family unity.  Topics we’ll discuss include long-distance caring, what to expect at different stages of the aging process, symptoms and red flags, how to reduce risk to their physical, financial, and emotional wellness, adapting their home environment to keep them safe, and finding the proper care and assistance to help them live as independently as possible for as long as possible.  We’ll also explore finances, estate matters, probate procedures, legal concerns, and how you can access the best possible care for them without draining their savings.  Or yours.  It’s inevitable,  most of us will outlive our parents.  Although each situation is unique, loss of independence, mobility, and failing health present massive changes for all involved.   The only sure thing is that this topic WILL come up at some point in your life.  The better prepared and informed you are, the less emotionally and financially stressful this new chapter will be.  In conversation with caretakers and others who have lived this experience, you’ll gain the insight you need to learn how to navigate these profound life cycles.