I wrote this review while participating in a campaign for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Genworth. I attended a live event and received a promotional item to thank me for participating.
If you’re like me, you’re one of millions with aging parents or family members. So not only do you have to navigate the maze that is today’s healthcare system for yourself, you’ve also got to manage and help make informed decisions for family members. Genworth wants to help you with that. They’re traveling the country this summer with their #LetsTalk tour and I got to stop by the huge coffee mug last weekend at the Taste of Chicago.
“The United States is undergoing a profound demographic change – every day, over 10,000 Americans turn 65, so that during the next forty years, the U.S. population over 65 will double.”
Genworth wants to make having the #LetsTalk conversation more accessible with loved ones. While I’m maybe not ready to think about long term care at the age of 35, it’s something I need to think about for my parents and aunt who are in their mid-60’s. My parents have never really been the type of people who make talking about important things easy. Easy is putting it lightly, you practically have to strap them down to get them to talk.
My dad’s health has been bad for quite a while now and started when I was in my early 20’s. So he, along with my aunt and uncle manage his care. It’s not something you can expect a 25 year old to understand or let alone navigate alone. While we’ve talked about healthcare, I don’t have the same concerns as I do with my mom. She’s anti-doctor and anti just about everything. While she did sign up for Medicare this past fall, she wouldn’t let us help or even discuss options with us. I have no idea if she also signed up for private insurance at the same time.
If you’ve got parents like mine, having this #LetsTalk conversation is a necessity. Burying your head in the sand and hoping things will work, just isn’t an option. I’m hoping after visiting the Genworth #LetsTalk 3-story tall coffee mug at the Taste of Chicago that I’ll have better luck with this talk. I certainly need all the facts I can get to point out that talking is only the beginning and while we avoid it; the facts don’t change. I hope this time around we can go beyond the denial that anything bad can happen and plan to manage to avoid bad things altogether. Being in the dark isn’t going to make it easier for any of us, and knowing how difficult these transitions have been with all four of my grandparents and other relatives that have passed on, I’m hoping to bypass some of the unnecessary confusion and chaos by talking. We’re not getting any younger and my parents well, they’ve been not getting any younger for far longer than us, so #LetsTalk.
