Know Your Elder Care Options

As our parents grow older, many of us will be faced with a difficult dilemma: How do I take care of my senior loved ones? Will I have the time and energy to care for them myself or will they need in-home care services? Even more pressing, how will I ever juggle this with my own daily tasks and caring for my children? While senior care for your elderly parent is almost certainly not an easy subject for you to approach, it is nevertheless essential that you ensure you are prepared for it. When daily tasks like bathing and dressing become too difficult for your senior parent, then as the adult child, the responsibility falls upon you to begin looking into senior care options for your loved one. Moving your aging parent into your own home is an option. However, because most adults have to work full-time jobs to support their families, this option is not the most ideal situation. In addition, most seniors want to maintain their independence and remain in their own homes. For a number of seniors, remaining in their homes and receiving part-time care assistance is feasible, for others who require a greater extent of care and supervision, this may be unrealistic. As you move forward in your search, you need to investigate all of your options thoroughly and always have the safety of your loved one as your first priority.

Assisted Living

Assisted Living is a long-term care option that allows your senior loved one to maintain a sense of independence while still receiving personal care. An Assisted Living community combines housing, support services and health care to assist their aging tenants. Assisted Living residents have as much freedom as they like while still having access to support services whenever they need. Assisted Living however isn't the most ideal for all seniors as they do not provide complex health-related services for particular disease like Parkinson's or hospice care.

Nursing Homes or Skilled Nursing Facilities

Nursing homes, or Skilled Nursing Facilities cater to seniors with medical conditions that require round the clock care. These communities provide all the same personal care services of an Assisted Living Facility with the addition of 24-hour nursing care. Residents typically live in private or shared accommodations and sometimes share bathrooms with other patients or adjoining rooms. Nursing Home Care tends to be more expensive than other facilities due to the volume of personnel and expensive medical equipment required to meet patient's medical needs.

Home Care

Home Care refers to non-medical support and care services that the senior receives in their own home by a personal caregiver who comes to them. Home care services provided by these non-licensed personnel include tasks of daily living such as cooking, cleaning, laundry and driving to and from appointments. These services are not covered by medicare.

Home Health Care

Home Health Care refers to medical related services that are provided by licensed health care professionals such as rehabilitation therapists and nurses, and are administered to the patient in their own home. The senior's residence could be their own home or an Assisted Living or retirement community.

These are a few of the most common senior care options you will come across as you begin searching for the right care option for your aging loved one. There is no one size fits all when it comes to senior care, you will need to evaluate your loved one's specific needs and conditions in order to decide on the best option for them. Starting out on the path to findinging senior care assistance for your senior parent can be overwhelming, but luckily there are a number of resources in your community to help guide you through the process step by step.