Home Care Services Are Available For Every Senior's Needs

An elderly friend lives alone in a lovely apartment, but she's gotten to the point where she just isn't able to take care of things the way she used to. At 90, she finds that she needs a bit of assistance to maintain her home, but she's still unwilling to move into a nursing facility. Instead, she has opted for the new big trend in elder care service which is home care. She has a woman who comes into her home one day every two weeks to clean house, buy groceries, and do the laundry. Other than those chores, my friend is able to take care of herself, but home care allows her to stay in her apartment on her own.

It's no wonder that home care has become the biggest thing in elder care these days. The services are available from trained personnel who can deliver exactly what any individual needs. The various categories of home care include:

1. Homemaker care - this is exactly what it says. It means someone to come into the home to take care of household duties. Much like the woman who cares for my friend, it can mean someone to do light housekeeping, change the bed, do the laundry, and shop for groceries.

2. Personal care services - this service will include personal grooming such as bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, and toileting.

3. Meal services - means someone to come into the home, work out the menus, buy the food, and cook. This can be on a daily basis or less often as needed.

4. Home health care - involves care for those individuals who need simple medical care in their homes. These services could include dividing daily medicine doses, making sure the person takes their prescribed doses, and ordering and picking up prescriptions. It could also include temporary care for someone with a broken limb or a person who's just been released from the hospital and might include such things as taking vital signs or changing dressings.

5. Skilled health care - this type of care is given by experienced professionals. It might be an LPN, an RN, or some type of therapist. These caregivers allow the senior to stay in their own home while receiving the care they require and eliminates the need for extended hospital stays and rehabilitation facilities.

There are better options available for seniors these days that doesn't include putting them away in nursing facilities. If this is the type of assistance you need to stay healthy and remain in your own home, you should definitely check into it. Try the yellow pages or search online to find local agencies that will help put you in touch with the right people.