When Reverend Paul Boothby, interim minister at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk in Virginia, counsels parishioners on care for aging parents, he provides emotional support, rather than specific recommendations on care facilities.  The GMMR talked to Rev. Boothby today as part of our occasional look inside the thinking process of referral sources.  While clergy are perceived to be among those providing referrals to families on where aging relatives should live and receive care, Rev. Boothby says he doesn’t make that kind of recommendation, nor do other ministers that he knows. 

“On rare occasion, a parishioner does ask me for a recommendation on housing and care for an aging parent, but rather than recommending a facility, I work with the parishioner to facilitate the research process,” he told us.  “I help the parishioner identify priorities, to think through what would work best for the parent and the family.”

Rev. Boothby says with the aging population, he is seeing this issue affect an increasing number of people in his congregation.