You are going to pick up the same dropped sock, the same remote, and the same dish towel many times this month. A reaching aid is the simple answer to that, and it is also one purchase where the difference between two products lives entirely in your parent's hand. Two grabbers can both list the same reach on the box and still feel nothing alike.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Before you compare anything, write down three jobs you need the tool to do: pick up a light item from the floor, reach a cabinet shelf, and pull a blanket off the end of the bed. The tool that suits one of those jobs may be wrong for the other two, and you will only find that out after you have paid for it.
Check the jaw and the tip
Look at how wide the jaws open. Can they close around the item you lose most often? A folded paper needs a different opening than a water bottle. Then check the tip material. Soft or rubber-coated tips hold smooth plastic better than hard ones. Ask whether the jaws grip with the item fully inside them or only at the very end, because a half grip is how things get dropped twice.
Check the reach against the room
The listed reach is the length with the tool fully extended, not the length you will use. Measure from your parent's shoulder to the shelf or floor where the work actually happens, then add a hand's width. A longer tool is heavier, and a heavier tool is harder to hold steady at full extension. If your parent will often use it while seated, the reach you need is shorter than the one that looks impressive in the listing.
Check the trigger, the lock, and the parts
Squeeze the trigger in the store if you can, or check whether the return window lets you test it at home. Some triggers need a hard squeeze that a tired hand cannot repeat dozens of times a day. Look for a lock that keeps the jaws closed while carrying the tool, and confirm it releases without a twist that needs real strength. Find out whether replacement tips are sold separately and how they attach. A tool whose tips cannot be replaced usually ends up in the bin the first time one tip wears down.
Write down the test you ran
Before you buy, put a note in the household folder that names the three jobs, the tool you chose, and the single reason you chose it. A few weeks from now you will not remember why you picked it, and whoever replaces it will need the same answers. Keep the packaging until the tool has passed a full week of real use.
Check the manufacturer's listed weight and reach against what you measured, not against the product photo. The Sources page lists the public references we use when we write about equipment choices, which is the place to start if a listing contradicts itself.