Cost is a major factor when deciding what type of care someone needs. In-home care is often the most cost-effective form of care for the elderly. Not only does this type of care yield savings for the family receiving the care, it also yields savings for the government and health care systems as a whole. There are also health, social, and emotional gains due to aging in place and not receiving institutional care. Aside from these benefits, it is a popular desire for people to stay in their homes for as long as possible. 89 percent of Americans over 50 years old want to stay in their own home for as long as they can. It is cost-effective for many elderly people to get in-home care because they own their home. Of people ages 65-74 21 present
Long-term care (LTC) covers a wide range of clinical and social services for those who need assistance due to functional limitations. These limitations usually result from complications associated with age related chronic conditions, from disabilities related to birth defects, brain damage, or mental retardation in children; or from major illnesses or injuries suffered by adults (Shi L. & Singh D.A., 2011). LTC encompasses a variety of services including traditional clinical services, social services and housing. Unlike acute care, long-term care is much more complicated and has objectives that are much harder to measure. Acute care mainly focuses on returning patients to their previous functional level and is primarily provided by specialty providers. However, LTC mainly focuses on preventing the physical and mental deterioration of an individual and promoting social adjustments to suit the different stages of decline. In addition the providers of LTC are more diverse than those in acute care and is offered in both formal and informal settings, which include: hospitals, physicians, home care, adult day care, nursing home care, assisted living and even informal caregivers such as friends and family members. Long-term care services have been dominated by community based services, which include informal care (86%, about 10 to 11 million) and formal institutional care delivered in nursing facilities (14%, 1.6 million) (McCall, 2001). Of more than the 10 million Americans estimated to require LTC services, 58% are elderly and 42% are under the age of 65 (Shi L. & Singh D.A., 2011). The users of LTC are either frail elderly or disabled and because of the specific care needs of this population, the care varies based on an indiv...
There is no place like home is a well-known adage that the healthcare industry has recently embraced as it enters in the early years of the 21st century. According to the Joint Commission, the home is the best place for healthcare, and it has proven to benefit the patients in many ways, because the cost of care is lower, the patients are happier and the environment is friendlier (Dilwali, 2013). CMS defines home care as “prescribed services delivered in the patient’s home such as nursing care; physical, occupational and speech language therapy; and medical social services” (Dilwali, 2013, p. 269). Home care includes disease prevention, health promotion and illness related services (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). The goal of home care is to ensure that the client’s health improves while increasing the individual’s independence. This
A person with dementia or any type of mental illness is required to have some type of care around the clock for their safety, without this care they could put their life in danger or the people around them (Baillie, Lesley,2015). In the essay Wolff gives us how he cares for his mother, “She is attended 24/7 by two daily shifts of devoted caregivers. It is peaceful and serene” (Wolff, M pg. 210). Caring for a person with dementia is a process, especially when you still have other responsibilities to take care of. In the essay Wolff also expresses the amount of thought and love he put into getting the right place for his mother so she gets the best care possible for this weak and vulnerable time in her life “A national chain of residency for the elderly, the Arteria is more a real-estate business than a health-care enterprise, proving, at the hefty cost—the apartments are in the $8,000 -a-month range—quite a pleasant one-bedroom apartment in a prewar building, full of amenities (terraces and hairdressers) and graduations of assistance. But it is important to understand—” (Wolff, M pg.212). The cost of a nursing home is very expensive if you want the right one that applies the right care, love and patience that you would give your loved one if they were in your care. Web MD an
Nursing home care is expensive. Although prices vary, the basic charge for a double-bed room in a typical nursing home is in the range of $20,000 to $50,000 a year. Homes in rural areas tend to be slightly less expensive than those in cities. The costs of medications and physician visits are not included in the basic charge. Also, special treatments such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy often add to the cost. There are also possible additional charges for drugs, laundry, haircuts, and extra services. Some nursing homes are operated as nonprofit corporations. They are sponsored by religious, charitable, fraternal and other groups or ran by government agencies at the federal, state, or local levels. But many nursing homes are businesses operated for profit. Individuals or corporations may own them. Sometimes they are part of a chain of nursing homes.
This assistance enables her to do what she enjoys most, reading in English and Greek, and taking online courses. According to Blanchar (2013, p. 7), many baby boomers who are categorized as middle class, cannot afford private pay nursing home care. Mrs. Papadantonakis recognizes that she is privileged to have the quality of life she has, which could not be achieved without home help. She explained the government assists her with approximately ten dollars a month in assistance. She and her husband pay the aid out of pocket and also treat them as family members, and have assisted them in the past with paying for their dental bills and attorney fees (G. Papadantonakis, personal communication, April 20,
Taking care of the individuals that are getting older takes many different needs. Most of these needs cannot be given from the help of a family. This causes the need of having to put your love one into a home and causing for the worry of how they will be treated. It is important for the family and also the soon to be client to feel at home in their new environment. This has been an issue with the care being provided for each individual, which has lead to the need of making sure individuals have their own health care plan.
(2007) found that at six months decline of independence was significantly less likely in a community hospital setting because they elderly has round the clock access to rehabilitation. Some of the main advantage the researchers found was advanced care and timely access. Timely access is important for the elderly who have varying illnesses and injuries because the faster they can get help, the faster the recovery. Young et al. stated that many elderly are discharged before they are fully recovered and that can lead to a decline of personal well-being.
With the aging population growing faster every year many families must make a difficult decision whether their loved ones should live in assisted living or nursing home facilities. I can relate because I made the decision to care for my mother at my home. Some people do not have the money or resources to care for their parent so they must live in a facility for health and safety reasons.
Upon growing older there are many decisions to be made. Among one of the most difficult and perhaps most important decisions is where the elder person will live and how long-term care needs will be met when he/she is no longer capable of doing so independently due to the incapacity that accompanies many with old age. Nursing homes seem to be the popular choice for people no matter the race, gender, or socioeconomic status with 1.5 million Americans being admitted to them yearly.[3] Because nursing homes are in such a high demand and are not cheap, $77.9 billion was spent for nursing home care in the United States in 2010 alone, they are under criticism of many professions including the legal profession, which is in the process of establishing elder law as a defense to issues with in the elder community. Nursing homes have a duty to provide many things to the elderly including medical, social, pharmaceutical, and dietary services so that the individual may maintain the highest well-being possible.[4] Stated another way 'a nursing facility must care for its residents in such a manner and in such an environment as will promote maintenance or enhancement of the q...
Matthews, J. L. Beat the Nursing Home Trap: A Consumer's Guide to Assisted Living and
The long-term care system consists of an integrated continuum of many institutional and non-institutional providers who deliver extended care when needed. Long-term care providers deliver a variety of care to individuals with chronic, mobility and/or cognitive impairments/limitations. These providers include: nursing facilities, sub acute care, assisted living, residential care, elderly housing options and community based adult services (Pratt, 2010). A great majority of these providers are already taking care of the many baby boomers that are present today and will be present in the future. “Baby boomers” are individuals who were born between the years 1946-1964. Since 2011, every day 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 years old (Pratt, 2010). This
Today, world’s population is aging at a very fast pace and United States is no exception to this demographic change. According to the U.S Census Bureau, senior citizens will be accounted for 21% of the American population in 2050 (Older Americans, 2012). Although living longer lives may not seem like a negative sign, living longer does not necessarily mean living healthier. Older adults of today are in need of long-term and health care services more than any generation before them (Older Americans, 2012). Because of the growing need for senior care, millions of families are facing critical decisions on how to provide care for their parents. In addition, declining birthrates may cause people to have less familial care and support as they age. To be able to provide the necessary care for senior citizens government funded long term care insurance program is needed.
"Who does a son turn to, when his 78 year-old mother, newly admitted to a nursing home’s rehab unit, is experiencing delusions and screams through the night? Or where does a daughter turn to for help when she notices a rapid decline in her mother’s health and her mother refuses to seek medical care? Or the gentleman who believes it is time to a continuing care retirement community, but has no one to advise him on the myriad of financial and lifestyle implications of such a move? (Lederman, 2012)." Within in the field of home health care, ecological system creates an outline for defining what it means to provide quality care to the elderly.
Trust is an important foundation in any relationship but even more so when dealing with cultural differences. I think that home health aide programs are great, but unfortunately aren't an accessible option for many people. It breaks my heart when people think that caring for their elderly relatives is a burden because like you I grew up believing that I should be the one taking care of my own. On the other hand I've known elderly people who continue to take care of themselves because they don't want to be a burden on their family, so they'll be the ones to resist their family's help or never ask for help in the first place. In situations where someone doesn't want another's help would it be best to respect their wishes or intervene if their
Why some people send their aging parents to a nursing home? The answer is that some people do not want to take care of their elderly parents and some people think nursing home care gives the elderly a better care. Most people believe that taking care of aging parents is their children’s responsibility. In different countries of the world, people live according to their own cultural values. They have the right to express their own opinion .Some people believe that children should take care of their aging parents; others think children should not take care of their aging parents. I strongly agree that children should take care of their aging parents for some reasons.