Home care for the elderly is care that allows a senior to get the assistance they need to live independently at home. This care may be given by licensed healthcare professionals or professional caregivers.
Home care services include:
- Personal Care, such as help with bathing
- Housekeeping
- Cooking Meals
The advantages of home care for the elderly are as follows:
Health care facilities and nursing homes take away many of the freedoms that seniors have. Everyone has a desire for independence and control over their lives. Most people do not want someone monitoring their comings and goings. They also want to live on their own schedule. They want to determine when they eat and bathe and socialize, etc. Living at home also maintains a person’s privacy and dignity. At home they don’t have to have a roommate. They don’t have to see anyone if they don’t want to.
With respect to health, a home care worker seems to be able to maintain a person’s well being for a longer period of time. Research actually shows that home health car services can improve a client’s mobility and general health.
Making a comparison of the costs of various care options shows that home health care is the cheapest option. A home health aide charges roughly $21.00 an hour. They are typically not with the client at all times. Typically, they come in two to three times a week for two to four hours at a time. An assisted living facility can cost upwards of $3,000 dollars a month. Nursing homes can be even double that.
Research shows that living at home can be the best option for both physical and mental well being. A home health aide can provide the much needed companionship that a senior thrives on. The National Institute of Mental Health said that 16% of suicides are seniors over the age of 65. People are used to a lot of social interaction in the earlier parts of life and there is a void when they reach their older years.
Home care is not only beneficial for a senior. It also benefits their family. Usually, a senior’s family is busy with work or children or their private affairs and they don’t have the time to take care of their parent’s needs full time. A home care worker can relieve the stress that is put upon the senior’s family members.
There are not many disadvantages to home care for seniors, but there are a few:
Modifications to the senior’s home can be costly. We talked with A Better Way in Home Care about this subject, and they said, “Assisted living facilities usually have accessibility options. For instance, many times a ramp is needed to avoid having to walk up the front steps.” A senior also may have trouble admitting that they are disabled and become resistant to any modifications to their home. Serious consequences can result from a failure to adequately modify the home. Injuries from falls may become common.
Another problem that one might face with home care is caregiver deficiencies. At facilities, the deficiencies of one caregiver are often absorbed into the whole staff. Workers cover for each other. While there may be a problem with a particular worker, this is not the case with all of them, however. A good way to check the qualifications of workers is by word of mouth or from references. One other problem is that since the worker is not always present, the senior can run into some problems when they are by themselves.
One final problem with home care is that the senior will not have access to anyone directly during their worker’s off hours in case of an emergency. At a facility there are always plenty of staff around.
With respect to the pros and cons of home care, the pros seem to outweigh the cons. Some of the cons are remediable as well. For an article that reviews some of the research on how seniors adapt to changing life circumstances, see here.
