Elderly Care For Your Loved Ones
As your loved one grows older, you may find yourself shouldering the responsibility for his or her care. Should your loved one’s medical needs grow too extensive for you to handle alone; you may start to consider looking for a long-term care facility.
Since this is one of the most crucial decisions you can make, it’s vital to do your research along with comparing options before making any choices.
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What is the Appropriate Level of Care?
The first step in selecting the right housing situation for your loved one is deciding the level of healthcare necessary. There are different types of nursing homes:
Skilled nursing facilities provide an around-the-clock presence by registered or licensed vocational nurses. Residents at skilled nursing facilities (or SNFs) receive dietary, medical, nursing, pharmaceutical, and activity services as well as support with day-to-day living functions such as dressing or bathing. Since these facilities provide such comprehensive care, choosing the most appropriate one for your loved one’s needs may be quite difficult.
- Intermediate care facilities offer fewer nursing services than SNFs, focusing on medical, dietary, pharmaceutical, and activity support along with intermediate nursing. An intermediate care facility (or ICF) does not always offer immediate access to licensed nurses; however, they are required to provide eight hours of nursing supervision daily.
- Skilled nursing facilities for special disabilities serve mentally challenged patients. These SNFs often have locked security areas for potentially dangerous residents, as well as facilities for long-term mental patients. These facilities serve a targeted population and therefore may be a more limited option for many patients.
- In-home health care offers healthcare or supportive care in a patient’s home. This can be helpful in keeping your loved one in their home, but will almost certainly change your household dynamic.
- A retirement community is a broad term for three types of domiciliary care: active communities for those requiring active/supportive communities, and supportive communities. Retirement communities can meet many needs, but also prove expensive.
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Your loved one’s physician can help you decide which type of care is most appropriate. Long-term care can help senior citizens with a variety of health issues including:
- Age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, arthritis, or Parkinson’s, which can be managed through the presence of skilled nursing and counseling staff;
- Difficulties such as mobility problems or vision loss, which can be dealt with through the daily living support provided by a long-term care facility;
- Emotional support for conditions such as depression or anxiety, which is handled by the presence of a medical and counseling staff.
As you make your decision, keep in mind that the goal is to improve or maintain the state of your loved one’s physical, mental, and emotional health.
Finding the Right Facility
Now comes the time to gather information. This comprehensive process can be made simpler by breaking it down one step at a time.
First, understand what services are most important. Though your chosen facility will vary depending on your loved one’s level of care, it’s critical to select an environment that offers these major services, as listed by the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging:
- Nursing care
- Physician appointments and services
- Rehabilitation services
- Personal care
- Medication and medical treatments
- Meals and dietary counseling
- Religious services
- Social activities
- Medical supplies and equipment
- Social-work services and counseling
These services not only cover your loved one’s medical needs, but vital daily needs such meals, personal care, and social interaction. In order to meet your loved one’s medical needs, a nursing home must have the following supplies and equipment:
- Wheelchairs
- Hospital beds
- Oxygen
- Walkers
- Adjustable beds and bedrails
- Equipment for transferring residents
- Bathroom aids such as shower chairs and tub bars
Background checks are a crucial component of researching nursing homes, retirement communities, or in-home health care. You can verify a facility’s credentials and learn of any complaints with online resources such as the Better Business Bureau and ChoiceTrust.com. When interviewing staff and administrators at various facilities, you should also ask if they run background checks on their employees.
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Financing Long-Term Care
The cost for long-term care options can be daunting. Fortunately, there are ways of defraying these costs – particularly when you plan ahead.
Annuities can be an excellent way to guarantee retirement income. An annuity is an agreement between your loved one and an insurance company, under which a lump-sum payment or series of payments is made in exchange for periodic payments made to your loved one beginning either immediately or on a specific future date. By guaranteeing future payments, annuities prove a valuable retirement instrument for funding long-term care.
You and your loved one should understand the significance of life insurance, particularly as it relates to the option of an annuity. While life insurance pays off after death, an annuity settlement often offers its cash value upon retirement. For this reason, many senior citizens are choosing annuities over life insurance when considering retirement options.
You’ll also want to investigate the options for Medicare and Medicaid funding. Though Medicare generally does not pay for long-term care, your loved one may still be eligible to apply if he or she or their spouse has previously paid into the system. If your loved one is considered medically needy and in need of assistance, he or she can apply for Medicaid funding. Keep in mind that most older Americans do not qualify for Medicaid, as there are very strict eligibility guidelines. However, if you believe your loved one qualifies, he or she should certainly apply.
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Thriving in the Later Years
Regardless of your choice for long-term care, your loved one has many options for maintaining and even improving the quality of his or her life in their later years.
Regular exercise is a significant part of physical and mental health. Working with his or her physician, your loved one can create a beneficial workout regimen. Weight training is considered particularly helpful for senior citizens and even heart patients, according to the American Heart Association. The AHA has found that weight training has significant benefits to those with cardiovascular disease, though it should be considered a complement to aerobic exercise and not a replacement.
Diet programs are particularly powerful when used in conjunction with exercise. Your loved one’s physician can help him or her craft a tailored nutrition plan to meet specific medical needs. Remember, it’s always important to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and to avoid foods high in saturated fat or processed products.
Along with keeping one’s body healthy, it’s just as important to keep one’s mind active in the later years. A wide variety of educational options at a community college, vocational or training school are open to senior citizens. The Senior Journal publication says statistics show an increased presence of older students on campus. Many schools also offer senior discounts, which is an additional incentive to take classes.
Keep in mind that you are a vital part of your loved one’s later years. By supporting him or her in their choices, you have a positive impact in their lives.