Thank you for this information. I live a few hours away from my mother and I worry about her all the time. She is elderly and she can't do all the things that she used to. Hiring a home health aid for her might be a good idea.

Many adult children are moving out-of-state, and they aren't able to see their parents' true needs. It's a good idea to research companies and see if any of them could be your "eyes and ears". There is funding available through Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA to help pay for home care workers-and you don't have to be completely broke to qualify.

actually I think if you are out of state, there is very little chance you can actually really be in touch with your parent. you need to be there next to them.
if you can't do that, relying on someone else is just like playing telephone.
I say this as the main caregiver for my parents, I live very close (5 min or less, I could even walk), and the siblings hardly ever visit.
worse yet, while they rely on me for updates on the parents, once I honestly tell them how things are, then they say I'm lying to them.

My father needs a home health aid but he would most likely get a foreign one where he lives, and he's a very much "Archie Bunker" type and it would last about 5 minutes.

I have been on a much needed, out-of-state vacation for a week. As I was preparing to leave, the home health aides at the independent/assisted living facility where my mother lives, called 911 three days in a row. First day because she really felt bad, but ER couldn't find anything wrong. Second day she was diagnosed with a UTI and sent home with antibiotics. The third day, she fell in her room, hit her head, was diagnosed with pneumonia and hospitalized. The home health aides were the ones that knew it was necessary to call 911. At first I thought they might be overreacting, but they were right. She went from the hospital to a rehab facility to regain her strength. I chose not to fly home, and have been calling everyone involved, several times a day, to stay updated. My mother is hard of hearing and wouldn't be able to talk to me on the phone, so I asked everyone to tell my mother I was in touch and knew what was happening.