Elder care is a topic many are curious about as they approach their late 50’s and have questions around the next phase of them in their life, or their parents’ lives. After preliminary research,we admit that the terms used in long-term care and elder care can be confusing. What is assisted living? How is that different from skilled nursing? How is a home health aid different from a visiting nurse? Before making an important choice for a loved one, make sure you have an arsenal of the appropriate terminology. This will help make solving this decision for the golden years much easier.
Below we have compiled definitions of common terms used in long-term and senior care culture to help lift the veil of general confusion.
Age in Place
Let’s start with aging in place. This refers to the decision to remain in your own home as you age. they age rather than disrupting their status quo by moving into a senior living community. This is the route that the great majority of older Americans say they hope to ease into later life. An AARP study for 2019 found that 3 out of 4 adults over the age of 50 hope to age in place. The main distinction with this type of care is that nothing changes in the current individuals circumstances; heightened attention to their evolving needs is
Home Care
So what happens if your family wants to stay in their home, but they need more assistance than you can reasonably offer during check ins? This situation likely calls for home care. This can be anything from a personal care attendant to a certified nursing assistant, who can monitor medical status and help with daily activities.
This is often a popular choice due to the lack of disruption to what an older family member is used to. However, if your loved one is cognitively impaired, you’ll want to weigh your options before going this route to make sure the assistant is qualified to deal with people with these illnesses.
Living Communities
These are usually typical apartment constructions that are built to be community homes, or were renovated complexes. Usually, these types of care offer on-site amenities but may not always have them. Typically they have a doctor on site, or nurses available to assist if it is an independent living group. With assisted living homes a more hands on approach is delivered. This means checkups, deliveries, and on-call doctors appointments right to their door.
Independent living can be an alternatively great choice if your loved one can be autonomous, and prefers to be largely independent. On the other hand, assisted living can be extremely beneficial to families that are unable to provide consistent care, live
far away from their loved ones, or the patient requires speciality treatments.
As you can see, no two care options are the same. There are nuances which make each choice the right fit for any individual. In order to appropriately assess your needs, you may need to loop in an outside perspective. Helping Hands is a not for profit organization founded to help your family find the resources it needs for those later in life. To learn more about how we can assist, or how to select a care facility like the ones above, please give us a call: 818-279-6580
Leave a Reply