Many older Americans are choosing to move into one form or another of senior housing each year. However, every year, many more choose to stay in their homes and are choosing home care to meet their needs. It’s not always an easy choice, but home care can dramatically open up your options.
Many seniors and their families have decided that the ideal approach to aging involves aging in place – remaining at their home and taking the necessary steps to remain independent for as long as they can. Receiving in-home care is allowing them to stay there.
Even if they’re aging at home, seniors face the same challenges as those living in senior care facilities. Mobility and health issues are still a threat to their independence. But it’s become widely known that home care agencies provide the same services found at an assisted living facility, but they do it in the client’s own home. Home care agencies enable a senior to stay in their home throughout the aging process, and at a cost comparable to other options.
Many older adults choose to age in place because of their strong emotional attachment to their home or community. Home care reassures family members that their loved one is being well cared for without forcing them into an unfamiliar and distressing environment.
Let’s take a look at several scenarios which show how aging in place is the best option for many.
The Fairly Independent, Healthy Senior
A common situation that often arises is when a healthy senior lives relatively independently yet feels that they still need some assistance. The help they need can range from organization to home maintenance and often involves ordinary household chores, like cleaning or laundry. These seniors often want to take a rest after a lifetime spent working.
Home care is the perfect solution for this scenario. If everything else is going well, why have them leave home for a facility? The senior can remain in their home, and the caregiver can give their family updates on their loved one’s condition. Caregivers often provide reassurance that might not otherwise be available.
The Senior With a Spouse With Different Care Needs
Sometimes couples find themselves needing different levels of care and want to stay together. This can be challenging since the spouse not needing to go into a nursing home may find it difficult to be admitted to one – even if their life partner needs to be there.
Home care provides a viable solution to this dilemma. Having an onsite caregiver, even just a few days a week, can help a spouse be relieved of some of the most burdensome aspects of care. Even if one spouse needs more involved care requiring 24/7 supervision, having a caregiver can allow both spouses to stay in familiar surroundings together.
The Senior Facing End of Life
Making arrangements for a loved one around the end of life can be a very unpleasant and emotionally draining experience. Thus, many family members respond in crisis mode and turn to an institution when a loved one is facing death. But if a senior is already at home or could be released from an institution like a skilled nursing or hospice facility, hospice care at home could easily be the better choice.
Hospice care at home allows the older adult and their family to avoid the sterile, antiseptic environment of a facility and allows everyone to remember those final days in familiar surroundings.
Enjoy Peace of Mind with Adultcare Assistance Homecare
We’d love to have an open dialogue with you about your needs and how we can help with comfortably aging in place. As a locally owned agency with a 20-year track record of success, our highly trained caregivers can step in and provide your family with the care that’s needed.
Our home care services include respite care, companion care, medication reminders, senior transportation, light housekeeping, and even 24-hour live-in assistance. To learn more about our award-winning services, or to get a FREE home care assessment for a senior in Phoenix, Sun City, or Tucson, AZ, today, please visit AAH at: www.adultcareassistance.com.
