The Importance of Planning Elder Homecare Early

Because of the many developments in the field of science and especially medicine, people are living longer after retirement. The same people have children who most probably live far away or who are busy with their own lives such as the ideal situation where children took care of their aging parents is no longer practical. The need for elder homecare has never been greater than it is today. The trouble is that most people don’t truly understand the advantages associated with this type of such that they are very afraid when they have to make such arrangements for their elderly relatives and parents.

It is a clear fact that citizens who are older than 85 are actually the fastest growing segment of the population. When you also consider the fact that their health status can easily decline sharply and in most cases without notice, you realize the importance of planning ahead on what happens when your seniors require elderly home care. Most people will wait for too long until their loved ones become sick or when they get hurt and they panic trying to see what to do. Most hospitals today will discharge a patient just a few days after they undergo surgery and you don’t want to imagine what will happen to your seniors if they are alone at home or the person they are with is untrained in elder care.

Most people falsely believe that nursing homes are the only options available when it comes to elderly home care, nothing could be further from the truth. Research has continued to indicate that only about 5% of seniors live in nursing homes. The following about 10% are known to live in continued care communities or assisted living and independent living while about 20% will stay with a caregiver. Even elderly patients who may need some extensive care such as IV tubes and other forms of long term treatment can benefit a great deal from elderly home care services.

You may want to ask about state programs such as Medicaid or Medicare through which elderly people can be allowed to stay at home where they can also receive government assistance. Think about buying long term insurance care because it will definitely help a lot in taking care of daily costs of the expenses such as those of health aides who will take care of the elderly at home. There are also different types of private care agencies that provide day care programs; these ones have teams of highly trained care givers who have a medical background and who are duly licensed to offer these services. Such agencies offer a wide array of related services such as 24/7 live in home care, rehabilitation home care and recovery home care among others.