Great-to-Have Resources for Your Ageing Parents

Do you find yourself lost when your parents are ill? What information will be good to have to care for your ageing parents? What government incentives can you take advantage of?

 Recently, I have been doing a lot of online research to find out how to help my mom solve her swollen leg problem. As my mom's mobility worsen due to her painful leg, I began to look for answers on how to help her control her weight, to alleviate her leg pain. It also struck me that I need to stay equipped with useful health and caregiver resources, and to have a ready list of healthcare/emergency services that I can use in needful situations.

It is not enough to rely on a foreign domestic worker who is young and has no healthcare background to look after your ageing parent.

You need to have the knowledge to share useful caregiver tips to them, or if you don't, the caregiver must be given the training or essential resources that will help in the long-term care of your parents.

 Here are some of the tools I suggest everyone who cares for their ageing parents should have:

•   Health Apps - Include Find A Doctor App, Diet and Activity Tracker, Glossary of Medical Symptoms in the SingHealth App 
•   C3A App - Services, discounts and activities for senior citizens 
•   Caregiver's Handbook by Asian Women's Welfare Association. Perhaps you can use this to guide the FDW you have employed to care for your parent. 
•   Singapore Silver Pages - Resources for Elderly, Family Members and Caregivers 
•   Silver Infocomm HotSpots - Free Internet for above 60. If your parent loves to learn about the Internet Technology, they can visit nearby community centres for an IT session. 

Some tech stuff I strongly recommend that will benefit the senior citizens who are already using mobile phones:

•  WhatsApp - Free messaging tool 
•  Facebook - For sharing the joys of their children and grandchildren, and for keeping in touch with their friends
• Google Maps - For GPS 
•  YouTube - Watching online lessons, e.g. hobbies-related, spiritual or simply entertainment 

 As the number of older people in our society increases, we need to have more self-reliance, and not be too dependent on hospitals or FDWs. More importantly, we know our parents more, and we should get to know more about what they want, so that they can spend their days in greater comfort.

 By keeping updated with the latest available resources, we can decide better on what will be best to help our parents, and what not to do.

 I don't know how much longer I will live, but if I grow old into the 60s, I would want to have access to information that matters about my health, finance, and ongoing online and offline activities/lessons that I can participate in. I would also love to find out the latest updates on my siblings, my close friends, my children and my grandchildren, especially.