Estate Downsizing for Caregivers , livre ebook

Self-Counsel Press - Susan Bewsey

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92 pages

English

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Description

The elderly often need to downsize their lives and lifestyles due to financial, economic, physical, health, or emotional needs. Estate Downsizing for Caregivers is aimed at caregivers and explains how they can help an elderly person with the process of downsizing, while reducing the stress that comes with a big move. Deciding what to do with a lifetime worth of treasures can be a daunting task. It is important not to overstep and begin discarding items that may not seem important; someone’s life and memories are being reduced. As a caregiver, you can help ease the process as there are things you can do to expedite the process while making it easier on the elderly person. This book is designed for caregivers of all types: spouses, adult children, siblings, nurses, neighbors, friends, and caregiving professionals. Estate Downsizing for Caregivers will help all kinds of caregivers ask the right questions, deal with the stress of minimizing a senior’s household possessions, and understand why a simple task can turn into a monumental issue (and how you can make it less stressful for all involved). The download kit includes worksheets and checklists to help readers stay organized.
Preface xiii
Introduction xvii
1. What Is Downsizing? xvii
2. Who Are the Caregivers? xix
3. Who Downsizes? xx
4. What Do We Downsize? xxi
5. A Little History: How Has Downsizing Changed? xxii
6. Downsizing Considerations xxvii
7. Downsizing Flow, from Start to Finish xxix
8. Putting Together Your Downsizing Team xxix
1 How to Look at Downsizing 1
1. Opportunities in Downsizing 2
2. Downsizing as a Positive Experience 3
2 Downsizing Types and Scenarios 5
1. Planned Downsizing 5
vi Estate Downsizing for Caregivers
2. Sudden Downsizing 6
2.1 Downsizing for empty nesters 11
2.2 Downsizing for retirees 13
2.3 Downsizing for elders / seniors 15
2.4 Downsizing for the disabled 25
2.5 Downsizing and wildlife considerations 29
2.6 Downsizing with pets 29
2.7 Downsizing for the deceased or bereaved 30
2.8 Downsizing due to bankruptcy, insolvency, or
financial catastrophe 33
2.9 Downsizing by caregivers 35
3 Goal Setting and Planning 39
1. Reasons to Set a Goal 39
2. Mission Statement 41
2.1 Writing your mission statement 42
3. Planning 42
4. Setting and Establishing Priorities 44
5. Scheduling 45
6. Inventory Taking 48
6.1 What is inventory taking in a downsize project and
why is it important? 48
6.2 Initial considerations as you walk through a home 51
7. Storing and Storage Facilities 54
4 Human Resources 59
1. Know Yourself 59
1.1 Know yourself 60
2. Know Your Service Provider or Caregiver 64
2.1 Finding a downsizing service provider 66
3. Downsizing Advisors: Pulling a Team Together 67
3.1 Your team 68
5 Stress Management 71
1. Downsizing and Stress 71
2. Prioritize Tasks 72
Contents vii
3. Visit the Person Who Trusts You to Deal with
His or Her Belongings 76
4. Communication 77
4.1 Barriers to Communication and How to
Overcome Them 77
5. Respect 79
6. Help: Asking and Offering 82
7. Conflict Resolution 83
6 Belongings and How to Deal with Them 87
1. Where Should All These Things Go? 87
2. Marketing in Order to Sell 89
2.1 Staging your belongings for viewing or selling 91
3. Disposal 92
3.1 Recycle and reuse 92
4. Donating 92
5. Benefits of Photography in Downsizing Projects 93
6. Collages 94
7. Auctions 95
8. Estate Sales 96
9. Yard and Garage Sales 96
10. Consignment 97
11. Online Selling 97
12. Buy and Sell and Classifieds 98
13. Old Things, New Life 98
7 Service Providers, Caregivers, and Advisors 101
1. Caregivers, Friends, and Family 102
Download kit 105
Tables
1 Possessions Then and Now xxv
2 Shared Reactions from People When Asked Their
Thoughts on Downsizing 2
3 Opportunities in Downsizing 3
viii Estate Downsizing for Caregivers
4 Sample Initial To-Do Lists 46
5 Written Inventory 49
6 Basic Outline of Premises to be downsized —
1st walk through and around 50
7 Rituals and Habits 63
8 Support Networks 63
9 Challenges 64
10 Hobbies and Inspirations 64
11 Problems and Solutions 88
Questionnaires
1 Planned or Sudden Downsizing? 6
2 Questions to Ask of Departing Children by the (Soon-to-Be)
Empty Nester 12
3 Questions to Ask Returning Children by Empty Nesters 13
4 Retirees Questions to Ask Yourself 14
5 Downsizing for Elders and Seniors 19
6 Discussing Retirement Homes and Downsizing
with an Elder 24
7 Downsizing for the Disabled 28
8 Questions to Ask before Downsizing for Another 36
9 Sorting through Belongings 53
10 Storage Facilities, Self Storage Questions to Ask 55
11 Know Yourself 60
12 Know Your Service Provider or Caregiver 65

Sujets

LAW

Wills

Elderly care

Informations

Publié par	Self-Counsel Press
Date de parution	30 avril 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781770409460
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0025€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Estate Downsizing for Caregivers
Transitioning from a home to an apartment or care facility
Susan Bewsey
Self-Counsel Press
(a division of)
International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.
USA Canada

Copyright © 2015

International Self-Counsel Press
All rights reserved.
Contents

Cover

Titlepage

Preface

Introduction

1. What Is Downsizing?

2. Who Are the Caregivers?

3. Who Downsizes?

4. What Do We Downsize?

5. A Little History: How Has Downsizing Changed?

Table 1: Possessions Then and Now

6. Downsizing Considerations

7. Downsizing Flow, from Start to Finish

8. Putting Together Your Downsizing Team

Chapter 1: How to Look at Downsizing

Table 2: Shared Reactions from People When Asked Their Thoughts on Downsizing

1. Opportunities in Downsizing

Table 3: Opportunities in Downsizing

2. Downsizing as a Positive Experience

Chapter 2: Downsizing Types and Scenarios

1. Planned Downsizing

2. Sudden Downsizing

Chapter 3: Goal Setting and Planning

1. Reasons to Set a Goal

2. Mission Statement

3. Planning

4. Setting and Establishing Priorities

Table 4: Sample Initial To-Do Lists

5. Scheduling

6. Inventory Taking

Table 5: Written Inventory

Table 6: Basic Outline of Premises to be Downsized — 1st Walk Through and Around

Questionnaire 9: Sorting through Belongings

7. Storing and Storage Facilities

Chapter 4: Human Resources

1. Know Yourself

Table 7: Rituals and Habits

Table 8: Support Networks

Table 9: Challenges

Table 10: Hobbies and Inspirations

2. Know Your Service Provider or Caregiver

3. Downsizing Advisors: Pulling a Team Together

Chapter 5: Stress Management

1. Downsizing and Stress

2. Prioritize Tasks

3. Visit the Person Who Trusts You to Deal with His or Her Belongings

4. Communication

5. Respect

6. Help: Asking and Offering

7. Conflict Resolution

Chapter 6: Belongings and How to Deal with Them

1. Where Should All These Things Go?

Table 11: Problems and Solutions

2. Marketing in Order to Sell

3. Disposal

4. Donating

5. Benefits of Photography in Downsizing Projects

6. Collages

7. Auctions

8. Estate Sales

9. Yard and Garage Sales

10. Consignment

11. Online Selling

12. Buy and Sell and Classifieds

13. Old Things, New Life

Chapter 7: Service Providers, Caregivers, and Advisors

1. Caregivers, Friends, and Family

Download Kit

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Notice to Readers

Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook.
Preface

This book came about because I was downsizing, people around me were downsizing, and we were all looking for help in some fashion. I was inspired by a request to share my experiences and to shift focus from outlining a model of a downsize business to preparing a practical guide for volunteer caregivers and individuals facing these scenarios.
I have included references that assisted me in composing this writing, but realize that many individuals, particularly our more senior elders may not have access to computers. I urge caregivers and others to assist by printing out information that may be of use in having dialogue on downsizing with elders in their care.
I tried to write this simply, practically, and in a positive light. I played music from various eras as I dealt with subjects that sometimes were emotionally challenging to write. I try to bring the reader through the steps involved in downsizing in sequence or chronological order, although at times that is not always possible because events can and do occur at the same time, and we are called upon to put on our juggling hats. I hope that reading this book may offer an oasis of calm in a sea of information when a downsizing situation occurs in your life.
What help we as caregivers are able to provide and receive is changing in a rapidly progressive world. Caregiving now encompasses fields of professional study, licensing, associations, and organizations. Once upon a time it was done for no compensation by family, friends and neighbors, and indeed throughout the world it still is. This guide is intended for the unpaid, unsung heroes who offer their time and energy in support of others.
Downsizing is a routine part of life. We transition from acquiring belongings for many years to the disposition of those very belongings. Although disposing of things may seem a straightforward exercise, downsizing without planning can be a taxing, complicated exercise fraught with challenges and stress. In addition to the physical aspects of contending with sorting, taking inventory, valuing, storing, and disposal of goods, is the emotional and psychological toll taken on all parties involved in seeing a downsize task through to completion all the while attending to the personal needs of individuals.
In my life, I have experienced several sudden downsizings. I was called upon to assist in the transition of elderly individuals as they moved into long-term care; I have helped out in sudden death scenarios; relocated a blind widower and his possessions to his country of birth; and I have helped in a downsizing due to illness and disability. The phone lines burned back and forth as friends offered and shared suggestions and experiences. Although there was writing on the subject in magazines, periodicals, and brochures, I found nothing all under one roof. Guidance and information gathered was often written in difficult to understand context or legalese and was only available to me if I knew to ask for it.
I found little in the way of practical steps to take and when to take them. It was a hard learned lesson a day, or so it seemed. Over the years I have collected and maintained information from many sources in an attempt to piece together a roadmap for when the situation presents itself again.
The writing of this is, in part, because of my desire to share valuable information and lessons learned with a receptive audience, and as a cathartic exercise in seeing downsizing as a positive and inevitable experience.
For individuals with downsizing needs, this guide is intended to assist you in conducting your own downsizing, by assembling a team of help. For individuals who will be assisting others, this guide is intended to provide guidance on how to proceed with decision making. For those in the midst of a career change, this guide may assist you in discovering an employment niche, or a business concept to which you can apply your knowledge and skills.
Please read through the sections that may be appropriate for your situation; use the questionnaires as a guide, write on them, personalize them as needed, print them from the download kit included with this book, and start your own downsizing plans.
Introduction

1. What Is Downsizing?
Downsize (verb): to make something smaller or to undergo a reduction in size or quantity.
There is more than one time in our lives when we experience downsizing. We downsize when we leave a childhood home to set up our first apartment for school or for a job in a new locale. We downsize when we may have personally been downsized in our jobs or careers. We downsize when our relationships with others have changed, in partnering, in the dissolution of a partnership, as a result of the passing of a significant other, or to accommodate a friend or family member. We downsize when we grow older and no longer wish to, or are able to maintain our family homes and sometimes we downsize to simplify our lives.
Each time we downsize, we are responding to adjusting physical spaces to suit financial, physical, and emotional needs, or any combination of life-altering circumstances.
According to statistics provided by the governments and organizations of Canada, [1] the United States, [2] the United Kingdom, [3] and Australia, [4] demographic studies reveal that approximately 79 to 100 million people will be retiring and an estimated 10,000 people in North America alone will turn 65 every day for the next 19 years.
This is relevant because the baby boomers, their children, and their parents will be altering living arrangements and adjusting their lives to embrace new normals.
The parents of the baby boomers, aged 71 plus currently — the silent generation — will require accommodations in retirement homes, assisted living residences, or with friends or family. The children of baby boomers, aged 29 to 44 — the Gen X’ers — will make living arrangement changes to accommodate their own migrating families and jobs. Another 100 million movers, the Millennials [5] , aged 29 and younger are embarking on establishing their own careers, lifestyles, and families. There is a boomerang generation [6] who return home to care for elderly or disabled family members, or for economic reasons. And there are the lifestyle changes of places and spaces for people living newly single lives by choice or circumstance.
We are coming into an era that is expe