Questions to ask aging parents

You do not need a clipboard and a sterile checklist. You need a few real questions, asked like family - then a place the answers can live.

Start with care, not control. One topic at a time. Write down what they say, and come back next week if they change the subject.

1. Who is on their medical team, and where do medications actually live day to day?
2. If they could not speak for themselves, who should speak - and have they told that person?
3. Where are the will, powers of attorney, and insurance papers, and who else knows?
4. What would make home safer or easier this year - without making them feel pushed out?
5. Which story do they still want the grandkids to hear in their own words?
6. What do they want the family to stop worrying about out loud?
7. Who still checks on them, and who do they wish would call more?
8. What chapter of their life have they never really gotten to tell?
9. If something hard happened next month, what would help first?
10. If we open a Storybook of their life this month, which chapter should we start with?

For mom specifically, see questions to ask your mom. For dad, see questions to ask your dad. Wider list: questions to ask parents before it is too late.

What questions should I ask aging parents?

Start with their medical team and medications, who speaks if they cannot, where papers live, what would make daily life easier, and which stories they want preserved - then keep the answers in a Storybook.

How do I start without making them defensive?

Lead with care, not control. One topic at a time. Try "I want to help if something happens" instead of an audit tone.

Where should the answers live?

Not in a notes app nobody else can find. Kinnect Storybooks is a private place for the answers and the family - invite-only Family Membership, $20 a year for six seats.

How much does Kinnect cost?

Family Membership is $20 per year for six seats, invite-only.