Nobody wants to move into a care home or welcome carers into their own home. That is just the way it is! Therefore, we will all put off looking for care for as long as we can and hope the crisis never comes. Whereas this in some ways sensible, nobody should start care before they need it, you must also make sure that you don’t leave it too late!

The key to leaving care provision as late as possible whilst ensuring that the very thing you most fear doesn’t happen is being honest with yourself and your loved one.

This sounds a bit simplistic, but it is true! If you are worried about your loved one falling, absconding, overdosing or not taking medication or anything else, don’t bury your head in the sand but face up to the risk.

If you are honest with yourself you know when things change from unlikely to inevitable. Then you need to be honest with them, by avoiding the truth you are not protecting them, you are putting them at risk of the very thing you fear!

Parents are very good at being unpopular in order to keep their children safe, sometimes it is the same for our parents. It is more difficult because they are the ones that have always supported us. Love them enough to be honest!