A hip fracture might be the start of a new stage of life for my parents, and I'm trying to figure out how to prepare

Two days ago, my 77 year-old father slipped on ice and fractured his hip. He's getting surgery today. From there, the most likely next step will be a discharge to an inpatient physical rehab center. That's partly because my parents' house is not a safe physical environment for him to be in during the earliesst weeks of his recuperation (lots of stairs, bedroom on second floor, narrow dimensions in places, etc.) But the other reason why my mom, sister, and I are lobbying for inpatient rehab is because both my parents had been struggling in the months before the injury, and my mom is too burnt out to be a primary caregiver as he does the acute recuperation from his surgery.

The thing is, my dad has been living with mild cognitive impairment that seems to be progressing. He has biannual assessments from a neurologist and while he's not in Alzheimer's territory yet, what started as trouble with speech and writing has now expanded to include more selfish behavior and being less thoughtful of others. He is still able to live independently, but my mom worries about him constantly, he overreacts, and this leads to lots of arguments between them. When my dad had his recent hip-breaking fall, I learned about this hours after the fact when catching up with him by phone and I basically insisted on an ER visist. My parents were still arguing over the whole thing when I showed up to take them there, and for me, this really illustrated the level of strain that aging has created in their relationship.

Knowing that my dad is going to need continued care and monitoring in the later weeks of his hip surgery recovery....and knowing that my mom is burnt out from the stress of living with him and being the main recipient of his frustrations....I feel like this could be the beginning of a new stage of life for my parents and our family in general. It's really hard for me to imagine the two of them living together safely and happily; at least right now, when my dad is in such a vulnerable and understandably discouraged state. Assisted living (for my dad, at least) might be on the table in the near future. And I'm trying to figure out how to start preparing for a potential change like that; especially because my mom isn't great at being proactive about this stuff.

Some thoughts that are swirling around in my head at the moment:

- Voicing our concerns to my dad's PCP and neurologist, getting HIPAA forms for both signed by my dad, and initiating conversations about my parents' living situation and their respective health
- Connecting with a social worker to discuss the situation
- Securing an elder law attorney

We have established power of attorney, health care proxies, and end of life directives already. I am the health care proxy in the event that neither of my folks are able to make their own heathcare decisions. And my sister and I both have power of attorney, for the same event.