Taking a summer vacation and wondering if you should or should not bring along elderly parents? Here are some things to consider:
When traveling with an elderly or disabled person, planning is key. You should be looking for accommodations and destinations that are the most accessible. Hotels offer specially equipped rooms that are wheelchair accessible with larger bathrooms with grab bars and even wheel-in showers. But these rooms are not plentiful, so booking in advance is a must.

Plan out the restaurants you might go to as well by calling ahead to find out if there are stairs or other physical barriers.

There is often an increase in physical effort while on vacation as well, so it’s important to pace activities and take rests along the way. Just being out of your familiar home environment can require more physical activity and emotional energy. If care is needed, perhaps bring along a paid companion or caregiver so that you will also get a break and be able to go off on your own some of the time.

Bringing adequate supplies and medications is also quite important since you might not be able to find certain products everywhere you travel.

It is important to judge in advance if the trip will be safe for a person with cognitive deficits, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Leaving the familiar home environment can lead to an increase in confusion or even wandering when this never occurred in the home. Make sure there is enough supervision, especially at night, to prevent any emergency situations. I had a client who traveled every summer to Maine with his wife. He had advancing Alzheimer’s disease and she was the primary caregiver. One night, he awoke very disoriented and wandered out of their hotel into the woods while his wife was sleeping. Luckily he was not injured and was found a short distance away. For the rest of the trip she had to move a dresser in front of the door at night so he would not wander out again. This was their last trip to Maine.