Tuesday, April 15, 2008

2008 IS PROGRESSING FAST!

The learning journey continues...

Having been away from this blog now since December 2007, the learning has not stopped, quite the opposite.

My focus has been on my family and my elderly and infirm parent and in-law who are both now getting the level of care they need to support them through their old age years (one is 90 years the other is 83 years). Blogging came right at the bottom of a long list of things to do.

Something I learned many years ago when I was working in the NHS in UK was 'QUALYS' = Quality of life years. What was deemed important was to preserve as much of the quality of an elderly persons' life and not just elongate it and that is what the last four months in particular (and the preceding 13 years) have been about.

What do I wish I had learned earlier? To recognise and take into consideration what things were going to be necessary to have in place when one gets older and certain faculties start to diminish so as to relieve the inevitable burden on the family.

We will all get old or have to deal with elderly parents - think now about how you would cope and make as much provision as possible to help them enjoy their last years.