Making the decision to hire a senior home provider to care for your loved one is an important decision and can be very difficult for everyone involved.
If an illness or recovery from surgery requires nursing care or physical therapy, a physician may order home health care services, and your decision is then based on the medical determinations made by the doctor. But what if there was no specific premeditated condition and no physician to guide, and instead your family was faced with a simply deteriorating situation? In such cases, the family or individual caregiver must determine the extent of care needed, often with no immediate source of assistance.
Each home care situation is unique. In the beginning, family or friends may step in to help with simple tasks and support for aging seniors who want to stay in their homes. Physical and mental conditions change with aging, making the usual daily routine and living activities difficult for an aging individual. Even with the healthiest of seniors, the ability to drive a car, shop for groceries or do general housekeeping may be diminished with age, and may eventually need to be relinquished to the responsibility of another person.
Many people stop by their parents’ home on their way to work every morning and again on their way home from work in the evening. They check in the morning to see that their parents were up and ready for the day. Adult children frequently take a shopping list for things their parents may need. In the evening, they deliver the needed items purchased during lunch breaks and sometimes fix meals. This can work well until working adults began to notice that their parents have stopped doing simple activities of daily living, like shaving, dressing during the day, and forgetting to take medications. When this happens, adult children can feel that more time and supervision is needed to care for their parents. However, with their own family and job, many people cannot do it. Non-medical or personal home care services can sometimes be a good option to consider.
As your family member advances in years, it is sometimes difficult to know what is best for them. Should they live at home? What about assisted living? And what about a few years from now? How can you possibly afford this?
Many senior home care companies, like Always Best Care Senior Services, can provide answers. These types of companies can help families make choices – physical, financial, social, and spiritual. They can provide options and opportunities that families may not know exist. When it’s time to take the next step with a family member, call a senior home care professional in your area.
Karen Barreto is the Area Representative for Always Best Care Senior Services in the Carolina Foothills. Through its network of independently owned and operated franchises, Always Best Care Senior Services provides non-medical in-home care, assisted living placement and skilled home health care for seniors across the country. Visit Always Best Care Senior Services at www.alwaysbestcare.com.
Always Best Care Senior Services
Always Best Care Senior Services (www.alwaysbestcare.com/) is based on the belief that having the right people for the right level of care means peace of mind for the client and family. Always Best Care Senior Services has assisted over 25,000 seniors, representing a wide range of illnesses and personal needs. This has established the company as one of the premier providers of in-home care, assisted living placement assistance, and skilled home health care.
April, 2011
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