How to Talk to Aging Parents About Their Health

As your parents age, care roles can become switched. Throughout your youth, your parents cared for your every sniffle and scratch. Now, as an adult, you may find yourself helping senior parents with their own health decisions. This role reversal can feel a bit uncomfortable at first – but it doesn’t have to.

Make time to sit down with your parents to regularly discuss their health and aging questions and concerns. When these conversations become routine, the awkwardness soon diminishes.

Conversation Checklist When Caring For Elderly Parents

Build a partnership with your parents with a goal of healthy aging in mind – both yours and theirs. When you approach decisions from this team-oriented mindset, you can cheer each other on in making smart choices for staying active, eating well, taking part in routine health and wellness screenings, and staying informed about aging and long-term care options.

If you’re in charge of taking care of an aging parent, prioritize having conversations about healthy aging and what it means to be a healthy senior, including:

1. Nutrition

Schedule time for monthly check-ins about your parents’ diet and typical day-to-day meal plans if they are living on their own. Work to help them plan easy-to-make dishes that ensure they get adequate nutrition for older adults. Above all, make sure your parents have proper access to nutritional meals and snacks.

2. Knowing Family Health History

Assess your parents’ risk of various health conditions by getting to know relatives’ health backgrounds. Ask whether any immediate family members have ever had a heart attack or stroke. Is there diabetes in the family? What about colon cancer or breast cancer? This knowledge can help your parents’ primary care doctor know what to watch for and suggest preventive steps or screenings. Your family health history is important information for you and your own doctor as well.

3. Smoking

If your parents are smokers, explain that it's never too late to stop smoking. Many health benefits kick in within days of stopping smoking. Over time, people who quit significantly reduce their risks of heart disease and cancer – not to mention that it sets a wonderful example for grandkids.

4. Heart Health

Make sure your parents know the benefits of a low-fat diet and regular exercise to prevent heart attack and stroke. Also, be sure they understand their current blood pressure and what it should be.

5. Cancer

Ask if your parents have completed all recommended cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies. If either of your parents has smoked or currently smokes, you may want to suggest a low-cost, non-invasive lung cancer screening.

6. Menopause

Encourage your mom to speak frankly to her health care provider about any menopause symptoms, from hot flashes to insomnia and mood changes, to stay informed about ways to manage them.

7. Mental Health Check

Check in on your parents’ mental well-being. Research has proven the direct link that stress, anxiety, or depression have on our overall health.

8. Thyroid Health

Women 60 and older are more prone to hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid glands don't produce the hormones they should. Symptoms of thyroid disorders can include fatigue, sensitivity to cold, constipation, dry skin, weight gain, elevated blood cholesterol level, muscle aches, slowed heart rate, depression, and impaired memory. If your mom is experiencing any of these symptoms, it may be a thyroid issue.

9. Eye Care

Cataracts and glaucoma are leading causes of impaired vision in older adults. Make sure your parents are regularly screened for these common age-related eye conditions. Also, check to make sure your parents’ eyeglass prescriptions are up-to-date.

10. Medication Side Effects And Interactions

Some medications, including over-the-counter sleep aids, can cause dizziness. Other medications – or combinations of medications – can cause balance problems. If your parents have stumbled or fallen, ask their doctor or pharmacist if medication side effects could be to blame.

11. Home Hazards

Make sure your aging parents’ home is safe by maintaining clear walkways. Check for and remove any potential tripping or falling hazards.

12. Hepatitis C

If your parents were born between 1945 and 1965, encourage them to get tested for Hepatitis C, a blood-borne disease. An infected person can live without symptoms for a long time, but when active, it can cause cirrhosis and liver disease. Baby Boomers are more prone to be infected because routine testing was not started until 1990, and universal precautions weren't adopted until the late 1980s.

13. Senior Resources

If needed, help your parent locate and utilize senior resources in your community. These could include support services and social activities at senior citizens’ centers, Meals on Wheels food deliveries, or free community health screenings at your local health department.

When you’re caring for an elderly parent, make talking about health and wellness a priority. Routine health check-ins can ensure your parents stay on track to happy, healthy, active aging. Caregiving for parents can be challenging at times, but it’s also rewarding knowing you’re doing all you can to support your parents’ mental and physical well-being.

If you have questions about your aging parents’ health care, make an appointment with a primary care provider or geriatric specialist today. Our caring physicians will help you and your parents develop a healthy aging and long-term care plan.