*The emotional, financial and administrative complexity of caring for an aging parent can be overwhelming, especially when the unexpected occurs and you’re not prepared. The subject of elder care is not always easy to raise with an aging parent, but waiting until the need becomes dire can make important decisions more difficult.
Actress Angela Bassett’s past experience serving as a caretaker for her mother and mother-in-law led her to partner with insurance company Genworth to help educate Americans about planning for the care of an aging loved one.
Currently on the second leg of the initiative’s #LetsTalkTour, the Golden Globe Award-winner opened up about how her family prepared for the living care of her mother-in-law after her diagnosis with ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“The thing about aging is we know it’s coming. We thought with her athleticism [at age 75] that we had another 15 or 20 years before something would come on so suddenly,” Bassett told HuffPost.
As Genworth’s official spokesperson, Bassett says she aims to engage Americans who are preparing for the care of an aging loved one and educate them on ways to help their parents age as gracefully as possible.
“It really is about – not selling anything to anybody – but really just taking the first step to plan for the future by having a conversation, and sometimes a conversation about aging and age is a difficult one,” she said. “But a lot of conversations are tough to have, but it’s vital that we do have them. So we’re hoping to create empathy, educate, and just open up dialogue.”
While Bassett’s mother-in-law chose at-home care, Bassett’s mother opted to reside at an assisted living facility in Florida prior to her 2014 passing. The costs of assisted living can be highly expensive, and Medicare/Medicaid does not often provide full coverage.
Bassett went on to attribute the high prices of assisted living care as a contributing factor for why many African-Americans resort to at-home care.
“In our community sometimes we move in with our parents, and move them into our homes and take care of them,” she said. “But even in that situation, where you have unpaid care they’ve found that you still end up paying on an average $8,000 to cover costs that aren’t covered by other means. So it’s just something that you have to have dialogue about and consider so that your parents, your lifestyle, and your expectations meet your financial reality.”
Remaining positive and finding grace are the best tips the “American Horror Story” star offers to those providing at-home living care. She said she hopes her caretakers will express with her one day, “grace, dignity and try to find the beauty in any moment,” she said. “I like things in order and decently done, but I would hope to be cared for by loved ones and be surrounded by love.”
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