5 Advantages of Choosing In-Home Elder Care Services
As the life expectancy rate in America continues to grow, more and more families are facing issues related to caring for aging relatives. For a variety of reasons, there may come the point when it’s not feasible for a relative to take care of themselves. For many years, the only course of action for families in this situation was to place the relative in a nursing home. However, there are good reasons to consider using a health care service that comes to your relative. Here are five advantages to choosing in-home elder care services.
Specially Trained For At-Home Care
In-home elder care services use highly skilled professionals who are trained to help patients in environments outside of traditional hospital and nursing home settings. Aging in place creates unique challenges. To provide the level of care a patient needs, in-home care specialists are trained on how to handle the various issues that may arise For some people, having someone around or on-call who can help with the age-related matters is all the patient needs to remain at home and keep their independence.
Individual Attention for Needs and Health Concerns
When placing their loved ones in managed care, it’s common for people to be concerned about how much personal attention they are receiving. These concerns are valid concerns since many facilities keep their minimum level of staff needed to meet state requirements. Traditional staffing levels at nursing homes make it hard for nurses to focus on an individual resident. With in-home care, the nurse can devote their entire attention to the patient and their needs. When you use an in-home care service, like River Oaks Home Care, your relative has the same small team of nurses and caregivers. The individual care also makes it easier for the person to bond with their team of caregivers, which also provides healthy social interactions.
Person Gets to Remain in a Familiar Environment
The most significant benefit of in-home is keeping the patient in their old home. Older adults are justified in their desire to remain in the places where they have lived for years. A house is filled with memories and familiarity that a nursing home can’t replace, and it can be a hard adjustment for many people. By using in-home care services, there’s less disruption to the life of your loved one, and they don’t have to adjust to a new environment. They are near their friends, favorite restaurants, places of worship, etc. In-home care gives the patient more independence.
Reduced Risk of Infection
Something that is often overlooked when considering in-home versus managed care is the risk of infectious diseases. Nursing homes do everything they can to minimize the risk of germs spreading from person to person, but it’s impossible to prevent all vectors for illness. Whenever you put a large number of people in one space, it increases the risk of spreading germs. Besides the possible viruses from other residents of the nursing home, there are also the germs from staff and visitors to considers. The risk of death from seasonal cases of flu increases as someone ages. Compared to nursing homes, in-home care has significantly fewer opportunities for illnesses to spread.
Potentially Lower Costs.
Because you aren’t paying for a large facility and staff, in-home care services can be less expensive than nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Depending on the situation, you may only need to hire an in-home care specialist for specific times of day rather than have someone with your relative 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Many people overlook the option of in-home care for their aging relatives due to price concerns. However, as the number of qualified in-home nurses increased, the cost of in-home care has dropped, and more insurances are making paying for in-home care options. Depending on the services the patient needs, in-home elder care may be a less expensive option than moving your relative into a nursing home.
If you’re trying to decide on the best care option for family members with age-related health issues, the specialists at River Oaks Home Care can help you weigh the options. Contact River Oaks Home Care to learn more about getting in-home health care services for your loved ones.
