As your family members get older, they will inevitably experience a higher degree of difficulty in having their usual routines performed successfully. Because of this, many people want the help they need to ensure that their life stays as uninterrupted as possible. However, one of the most popular misconceptions is that home care is the same as home health care. This isn’t true.
Home health care is medical, while home care is non-medical because a provider is engaged in different activities. For example, you’ll see that daily living with home care becomes far easier. Examples of this could include meal prep, laundry, or helping seniors clean their houses.
Why Is This Care Important?
The reason that this type of care is necessary is that seniors and their families can attain a lot of benefits from choosing these options. Moving someone into a nursing home can be stressful because the family member is not used to this type of environment.
Families don’t get to see them that often; they can get lonely and experience extreme depression and levels of sadness. Residents in long-term care facilities can also have issues with feeling like they’ve lost their dignity or their independence.
However, home care simultaneously relieves the strain on the family and the elderly. In addition, the person you’re getting the help will still feel as if they have a level of independence, and you don’t have to worry about being scammed out of your money either.
Who Needs Help?
Because there are many different areas where someone would need help, there are a wide variety of available services. One example you can experience helps around the clock and throughout the night. Another benefit is that it can help adults that are living with disabilities and need help to assist them with cleaning and other issues.
If your loved one has undergone surgery, home care can also help here. Many people will not be able to move well on their own after surgery, and as such, they need help ensuring that they can follow post-opt orders the correct way and keep the patient safe.
If the patient has Alzheimer’s or arthritis, they will also need specialized care. In addition, they will need help with insulin, meals, and other aspects because the patient will have to be monitored carefully. A live-in home care person can help not only during your older person’s life but at the end of it to provide daily needs and personal assistance.
What Kind Of Services Can Be Offered?
As mentioned above, you have a plethora of benefits to this type of care. To put this into a better perspective for you, you can have your caregiver help your elderly family member walk and get the exercise they need, along with supportive encouragement to understand that they need physical activity to stay healthy, but not push them too hard.
Bathing can be difficult for older people and those with difficulty with mobility. As such, they need help scrubbing their bodies and hair and help to get in and out of the tub. Others have trouble being motivated to keep themselves clean and cared for, which is another reason support is vital. In addition, they can have difficulty eating and dressing, creating issues and other problems for the patient.
Grocery shopping and doctor’s appointments are other areas that people appreciate for their elderly family members. Grocery shopping can be challenging because people with mobility issues can end up falling and hurting themselves. They can also have trouble finding the items they need. A home care person can ensure that they get exactly what they need. The person can have the same set of issues with doctor’s appointments. They may not be able to get there or advocate properly for themselves while they are there. In this case, they need someone to do it for them in a safe manner that doesn’t rob the person of their voice.
Utilizing A Home Care Agency
Home care agencies will directly hire caregivers for clients. They handle the employee process, which means you can rest assured that they are high quality and have the proper qualifications. They will also know what they’re doing. While there are good things about an agency, however, there are things that you should be aware of.
For example, an agency will conduct the proper background checks to ensure that your elderly family members are safe and have liability insurance through the agency so that the clients are protected against negligence. As these issues are two of the most damaging problems facing families, it’s good to have them available. In addition, you have the benefit of an automatic substitute if there’s an issue with any one of the caregivers or if a caregiver becomes ill and needs to be absent when needed.
The downside of using an agency like this is the expense can be higher. That is because they conduct the onboarding process themselves. That means the agencies have higher overhead costs and charge you more. They also tend to have a minimal range of caregivers they directly employ because they restrict the number of people available by location and region. Another issue is that each agency will typically only have a set range of services. If someone needs something else, they’ll have to find another agency.
The Benefits Of A Staffing Home Care Agency
A home care staffing agency is what acts as the connector between clients and caregivers. There are just as many good things about using this option as the home care agency. For starters, there is the ease of creating an application pool. The register works with clients to find any caregivers in the area. They will also have a list for each person to choose from, and then they don’t have to place ads in the paper or other similar methods.
The employment screenings will experience reference checks and a background check, but you should know that not all registries conduct screenings upfront, which can create a problem. However, one thing that separates these agencies is their help available to you in rural areas.
The issue with this type of care is a wide variance in employment and screening. You are not aware of the procedures of the registry. You must ensure that, above all else, you have all the facts before acting. There is also a lack of legal responsibility because they don’t hire caregivers directly. That creates an issue because they don’t provide insurance or bonding for their staff. That leaves clients at risk of getting hurt if someone is evil and doesn’t find it necessary to follow the rules.
An Independent Caregiver Can Help
Independent caregivers can help your loved one as well. If you don’t want to use an affiliation or agency, you don’t need to if you don’t want to. Like the other options that we’ve shown above, there are good and bad things that you need to consider before making this decision for your family. The cost is less because they don’t have to pay for an overhead agency. That creates a better option for the families. Another area you can appreciate is that people get hired quickly, and you conduct your screening. The last area you can benefit from is the fact that you can have them increase their service list and what they’ll offer you.
The downsides to this type of caregiving are that you have a more complicated tax process and ensure that you get paid when you’re supposed to and on time. When you have the proper insurance, this is easier, but it is still complex. You also have to do all the checks on your own, and there is a lack of training and insurance. This puts your family at risk of having a caregiver who lacks the skills that your elderly loved one needs. In addition, if the caregiver has to miss a day because of personal reasons, your elderly family member will be left alone without any care. This is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. As such, you’d need to ensure that you have the best possible backup for your family.
A Home Care Member Can Help
While there aren’t that many options for payment when it comes to home care, you do have options that will be provided. Insurance can also help; if a veteran meets the eligibility requirements, they can also have aid. The best option you can take is to understand what option is best for you and your family’s needs. Each person will have unique needs, and the caregiver needs to be able to provide that care effectively without issues. Take the time to find someone who can give your loved ones the care they need without hurting them or putting them in harm’s way. In essence, a caregiver should have a mentality of helping their loved one walk better, have a better hygiene routine, and help them regain their independence.
