Types of Senior Care Services: Choosing the Right In-Home Assistance Option

While most people would prefer to remain active and healthy forever, old age does undoubtedly catch up eventually. Statistics from the Census Bureau show the population is gradually aging, with the life expectancy now at 78.6 years. By 2060, at least 24% of the American population will be over 65 years old.

As you or your loved one ages, you might need assistance and personal care. There are various options available that can help the elderly with some of their daily activities. They range from specialized communities to round the clock home care. However, more and more seniors now prefer to age in place with minimal disruption to their life.

In-home Care Services

A recent survey conducted on older adults shows that 80% of the participants would prefer to ‘age-in-place.’ Most seniors opt to age in place due to the emotional attachment to their homes. It also enhances comfort as they don’t have to adapt to new routines in unfamiliar and possibly distressing environments. Here are the different in-home care services you can expect from a senior care agency.

1. Elderly Home Care Service

This is a custodial care type of service where the homecare provider matches your loved one with a specific caregiver. The caregiver helps to maintain their quality of life through round the clock home care or home health care. Elderly care services can be divided into:

Personalized Care: The caregiver keeps your loved one comfortable by helping with personal hygiene and preparing meals. Other tasks may include activities of daily living such as bathing, grooming, and using the toilet. The caregiver will also help with instrumental activities of daily living, such as providing medical reminders, paying bills, and transportation.

Companion Care: Most seniors get lonely as they age, which may lead to isolation and depression. The caregiver can help with your loved one’s social interaction and the running of errands. They will offer companionship and emotional support through sharing experiences and discussing topics of interest. They may also engage in fun games such as puzzles.

2. Specialized Non-Medical Care

Some seniors may require special attention that doesn’t necessarily need highly trained and licensed medical caregivers such as doctors. The home care provider will link you with a niche-trained caregiver who has experience with the people with specific conditions.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: Caregivers offer effective care that ensures the safety of seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s. They also engage them in memory exercises that help slow down the condition’s progression.

Disability Care: Caregivers offer specialized care to persons living with disabilities, improving their quality of life. The professionals work in conjunction with physical therapists to keep your loved one comfortable at home.

3. Temporary Care

In some instances, the primary caregiver may not be present to offer much-needed care to their loved one. Whether traveling or taking a break, the home care agency can match you with a caregiver to take over the responsibility during that period. The respite care service may cover for a few hours or round the clock home care for a weekend or several weeks. Besides, you may hire a caregiver to help as your loved one recovers from an illness.

Bottom-Line

Homecare agencies offer different types of elderly care services, depending on the preference of the seniors and their families. The caregivers can provide round the clock home care for your loved one, keeping them comfortable as they age gracefully.

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Three Advantages Of Working With Home Health Care Services

With each day, the number of senior citizens in the United States increases. In fact, it’s believed that by 2060 Americans 65 and older will comprise nearly 24% of the total population. This isn’t a bad thing; one of the reasons why there is a growing population of senior citizens is that it’s easier for people to live longer than they did in the centuries past. With that being said, it does present something of a challenge in the long term. While those people may be living longer, that doesn’t mean that they’ll be able to work longer than they would otherwise. While many senior citizens can continue to work and remain completely lucid well into their old age, not everyone does. This is why a lot of young people are going to have to face what to do about their parents’ care.

There is a point, whether you have one or both parents living, at which you are probably going to have to confront the fact that they can’t take care of themselves anymore. Now, a lot of senior citizens do choose to move into retirement communities, wherein it’s often easier for them to get extra assistance when needed. But a lot of people living in retirement communities are much more independent than senior citizens whose adult children take the reins on the decision making. Therefore, when it comes to elder care, a lot of people find themselves deciding between nursing homes and home healthcare services. Home health care services would keep the parent or parents at their own house, and would essentially involve an in home caregiver either visiting frequently or living at the home with them, taking care of their regular needs and ensuring that they make it to doctors’ appointments. This can be a difficult decision, understandably, for anyone to make. Therefore, let’s look at some of the factors that might ease your worry over the idea of home health care services. There are plenty of advantages to hiring round the clock home care for your parent.

1. The Familiarity Of Home

Perhaps one of the most traumatic parts of moving into a nursing home is the sense of being uprooted and taken away from home. Whether your parent is moving to a nursing home due to physical issues or a lack of lucidity, or both, it’s not easy. If a person is lucid but physically frail, they’ll struggle with the limitations that come with moving to a nursing home, as well as the general associations that come with nursing homes. Those that suffer from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other problems that affect their mental capacity will be even more confused when removed from their normal surroundings. By working with home health care services, you’ll be able to avoid these stress factors and keep your parent at home, in a place that they know. The care comes to them, rather than them being dragged out to the care.

2. Expertise

Home health care services allow your parent to be cared for by people you’ll know specifically. You’ll be able to approve the people working with your parents, while potentially anyone can work with them at a nursing home, as long as the home itself hires them. Furthermore, you can get to know them yourself, and feel much more comfortable. There are constant horror stories about elderly people being mistreated at nursing homes; an aide at home gives you much more control.

3. Emotional Support

Your parents aren’t the only ones who will need support during this time. If you aren’t comfortable with a nursing home and don’t hire a home aide, you’ll be left taking care of them yourself. This can be incredibly stressful and emotionally challenging, and may damage your relationship with your parent. An aide lets you keep some healthy distance in the relationship, and allows you to continue working as you had before. You shouldn’t feel guilty about using an aide’s services; it’s important for you to maintain your own life too.

Nothing about making these decisions is easy. But choosing an at home aide allows you to have control over the process, and maintain your parent’s happiness at the same time.

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