Thought cliques ended at the school cafeteria? Peer exclusion is sadly real for kūpuna with lower physical abilities and cognitive conditions. Generally it's better for kupuna to feel like the biggest fish in the tidepool rather than a manini beyond the reef.

When evaluating the size of care settings, you have to think like Goldilocks: each individual kupuna needs a setting that is not too big, not too small, but just right.

It seems obvious. Nobody suddenly wakes up and decides that they want to leave their at-risk kupuna at home alone without supervision.

It's a balancing act for families to manage the care needs of their kupuna vs finances, and to get the timing right for when to seek care. But it may be even more expensive in the long run if a kupuna suffers an injury with lasting damage. If there are any "near misses" or other incidents, then it is already time to seek care for your kupuna.

We all want what's best for our kūpuna. But it's easy to confuse loving our kūpuna with providing care for our kūpuna. So many families become stressed and fractured by trying to provide care to their kūpuna, and sometimes the result can be disastrous.

In our post, we outline seven very common questions that family members end up ask themselves throughout the process.

Most of all, people believe they have the luxury of time. They believe that their loved ones can handle themselves for now, and that senior care can be figured out later, when it becomes necessary.