In-home care: The Elder Care that Seniors Want

In-home care: The Elder Care that Seniors Want

Despite the advancing years, seniors today are fiercely independent. They want to live full, active and balanced lives.But more often than not they need some sort of assistance in dealing with their daily duties. Employing in-home care allows seniors to remain independent while receiving the amount of assistance, they require.

In-home care is a form of elder care that provides senior assistance in the comforts of the home. Home is where the heart is. Seniors don’t want to be in an unfamiliar environment like a nursing home or an assisted living facility. They feel more confident being at home, close to their loved ones. There are different types of services provided by in-home care agencies. Before hiring home care, it is important to figure out the exact kind of assistance that is required.

If the senior is facing difficulties with activities of daily living (ADLs) like bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, taking medicines and walking, then the in-home care service that should be employed is personal care service.

If the senior needs medical monitoring, dressing of wounds, injections, physical therapy or any other medical assistance, then skilled care should be employed. Skilled care is usually prescribed by doctors and is provided by trained professionals like nurses, physical therapists and rehabilitation therapists.

Often a senior suffers from loneliness and needs companionship. This form of assistance is provided by companion/homemaker services. Companion services can be employed by seniors who don’t need 24/7 assistance but need assistance while performing specific tasks like visiting the hospital. Companion/Homemaker services also provide help with housekeeping. This kind of services can also be helpful to caregivers who need some respite from their care giving duties.

The services provided by in-home care agencies vary from state to state. The agencies are bound by regulations of a state which guarantees that seniors receive the kind of care they deserve. Costs of in-home care services may vary due to various factors like the types of services provided, the location where the services were provided and whether the expenses qualify for Medicare or private insurance coverage. Medicare covers some in-home health care services.

Posted by Melanie Mendoza on Monday September 22 2014, 4:48 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0