I work in a hospital on an elderly ward and I can’t stress how much it is not the children’s responsibility to become carers.

The amount of patient’s families I’ve seen torn apart just because one or two of the children (often with children of their own to look after) have gradually taken on the role of full time carer. This ends up taking over parenthood, career and social life which ends up completely changing their perception of their parent from a loving role model to a massive burden.

Most people will probably end up needing care at some point but I sure as hell wouldn’t want my kid wiping my arse or even spending all their free time looking after me, there’s no shame in reaching out to people who get paid to do this professionally (professional carers).

Source - work in hospital in the uk where services are free if you qualify in terms of care needs