40/70 Rule Research and Background

The 40/70 Rule presentation is designed to help adult children and their aging parents deal with those sensitive life topics that often make conversations difficult.  How do you talk with your mom and dad about driving, dating, and independence, or end-of-life?  And when do you start? Based on research and experience, the international caregiving company Home Instead Senior Care recommends that the earlier these conversations begin the better.  The "40-70 Rule" means that if you are 40, or your parents are 70, it's time to start talking - at least about certain senior topics. Here, Gregg Medwid of Executor Support, interviews Christine Till about the questions regarding the sensitive issues between the "sandwich generation" and their parents.  They discuss some of the research that was done in conjunction with Dr. Jake Harwood of the University of Arizona and his input for this research.  There were 1500 U.S. and Canadian adult children of aging parents interviewed in this survey asking them about their relationships with their parents, and how they handle discussing sensitive topics with those older adults.  500 of those interviews were done in Canada, and that is incredible, considering the difference between the population of the U.S. and Canada.  The research revealed that nearly 1/3 of adults in this country have a major communication obstacle with their parents that stems from the continuation of the parent-child role.  Families who suffer from the "Parent-child role"  means that the parents still think of their children as "too young to understand", or as a child, rather than on a peer-to-peer basis.  When the family communication suffers from this parent-child role, the children are far less likely to start the conversations on delicate issues like personal health, moving, drivers license and end-of-life --- until there is a crisis. The way for families to get started talking is very slowly, a little bit at a time and pick those times when both the parents and the children are most open to a discussion, like at a family get-together, when all the siblings are present.  Then remember to use humor and keep the conversation light.  If the parents try to start the conversation, remember to avoid saying, "Oh, you're young yet!  We don't need to talk about that now!" There are 7 tips to help boomer children communicate with their aging parents.  Come to our FREE presentation at Queensborough Community Centre on November 4th, 2010, from 11:00am to 1:00pm and all these 7 tips will be explained. We have several presenters that will be speaking that day.  They are:  Dr. Tina Wu on Clinical Counselling, B. Martin Kastelein, Notary, Margaret Reynolds of Desjardin Financial Security Independent Network, Gregg Medwid of Executor Support, and Christine Till with Home Instead Senior Care. The concept of having complimentary presenters came through Christine doing the presentation on her own and receiving multiple questions on things like end-of-life planning, wills, power of attorney, moving to extended care, counseling with the family, and planning the finances for those retirement years.  Well, since Christine is not a lawyer or an expert in any of these areas, she decided to call in the experts.  It created a jam-packed information session for all who attend. The event is Free to all who want to attend.  The Date is Nov 4, 2010; the Time is 11:00am - 1:00pm; the Place is Queensborough Community Centre on 920 Ewen Avenue, New Westminster, BC. Complimentary Light Lunch will be served.