Senior Home Care - Is it right for you?
Senior Home Care is a relatively new service compared to older care services such as nursing homes or even assisted living. So what is senior home care and when is it appropriate?
When someone has trouble taking care of certain activities of daily life such as bathing, dressing, or just managing certain tasks for awhile during convalescent recovery after an illness, they often faced with the choice of getting some help or leaving their home to stay in a facility that can offer that daily care.
The problem with the latter is that it's often just not the right time and it can be very expensive. Most seniors want to stay in their home as long as they can. If it's a matter of recovering from surgery, the cost to stay elsewhere because of minor inconveniences can be a serious financial drain.
The idea of getting help can take two paths. In many cases, adult children and grandchildren, other family, neighbors, and friends can and do pitch in. The problem is that it's often not enough. Working adult children find it hard to run over to mom's in the morning to help her in and out of the shower and wait till she dresses. Other family and friends aren't consistently available.
Senior Home Care is a paid alternative where an expert in handling these kinds of situations comes to the home on a regular schedule to pick up where the relatives can't. Senior Home Care specialists do a wide variety of duties and though these may cross over some duties of other services such as maid services, Senior Home Care specialists are there to provide assistance wherever it is necessary.
Senior Home Care service specialists provide assistance with daily tasks such as bathing and dressing, can assist with cooking, cleaning, provide transportation, go get prescriptions and groceries, or sometimes even just sit and talk.
Sometimes seniors feel as though their independence is threatened when help services are required. Nobody likes to have to admit that they need help with these kinds of basic functions and this can sometimes mean that home care services are refused.
So how does one know when it's time to bring someone in?
The first thing that must be considered is when there are safety issues involved. If there is danger of falling while getting in and out of the shower, dizziness or eyesight have the potential to cause an accident, or if there have been issues with forgetfulness or an inability to process information, then concern over physical safety must take precedence over feelings that independence is being threatened.
If these are not issues, then home care services may indeed be implemented over a period of time, starting first with duties that are most despised. It is not that uncommon that a senior home care specialist may be called in to provide some light housekeeping. If they also happen to be there during normal shower time, so much the better.
In many cases where an individual initially exhibits certain reactions to the idea of home care, actually meeting the senior home care specialist can put these fears to rest.
The interview stage is always a requirement for Senior Home Care companies. During this time, they do a "needs-analysis" profile and can usually alleviate the concerns over bringing assistance home.
If you think that senior home care is something that needs to be examined further, consider having someone come out for a visit to talk about services. These visits are generally free, and responsible home care service companies understand that there may be concerns. These are no-pressure and no-obligation meetings, and just the human face can often mean a better degree of acceptance of this new idea.
