Advice needed! Parents in 70s
I hope this is okay to post here. I'm hoping to get advice and perspective from the 70+ folks on my situation.
I'm an adult child of 69 & 70 year-old parents who still live in my childhood home. Father with Parkinson's (good mobility still, but difficulty with eating and speech, difficult cognition, frequent medical visits). Mother with severe depression and anxiety, who is additionally very isolated in the full-time caretaker role. Neither parent has an active social circle in their city.
All adult children live 3+ hours away and work full time + have young kids at home, so assisting with the full-time caretaking feels impossible for all of us.
I'm wondering if I should open a conversation about moving to independent living, or if it's too soon? I'm concerned about their health and safety living in such an isolated situation. I also wonder if an independent living/CCRC would allow them to have more social interaction that would improve their lives. It also seems like we should be proactive, rather than wait until a crisis forces us into action.
(For additional context, I've tried for years now to encourage them to move to be near to me, but the web of Parkinson's doctors they're established with makes that difficult.)
Any advice?
Editing to add detail explaining why this is weighing heavily on my mind: My mother is on several medications to treat her mental health issues (has been for years), and newly, to treat insomnia. She's had at least three car accidents in the past six years that I'm aware of. She's been making unintentional phone calls to family members at all hours of the day. Most recently, she left an accidental voicemail on my phone in the middle of the night where it was clear she was not actually awake, but also actively preheating the oven. (She later confirmed this to me.)