Assisted Living Homes or In-Home Care

Will you get the required care in your home or would the option of assisted living homes be able to better cater to your long-term care? As you age, you will be asking yourself this question. Whether moving about your home or traveling to see your doctor or your other appointments, old age can start taking its toll.

Fortunately, with technology advancements and medical equipment, you can benefit from senior care at home for meeting the challenges of aging. Even so, staying at home is not the best choice for everybody. For taking a suitable decision, you need to consider a variety of factors – ranging from your finances to the amount of support you enjoy.

Assisted Living Homes: What are they?

Assisted lives are designed for elderly groups who require specialized care. As such, they provide the patrons with some help in daily tasks such as managing medicines.

Those groups who need wheelchairs to go about, or are suffering from cognitive and behavioral impairments, are not advised to avail the option of assisted living facilities. This is because they need specialized care.

Also, while some assisted living residents shift to nursing homes, others leave when returning home or to shift to another assisted living facility.

Be Independent

With assisted living homes, residents can enjoy their independence while feeling secure. Such facilities not only promote the dignity, autonomy, and privacy of the residents – but also encourage community and family engagement.

More so, residents have the right to practice (or refrain from) religion and are permitted to socialize with people. Plus, they can partake in residential councils, manage their finances, and avail their personal possessions. Visitors are also allowed inside.

Residence and rendered services

In assisted living homes, residents have their own private and semi-private apartments, which contain bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. More so, the residents get the required help with basic tasks like bathing, dressing, and eating. Besides, they have facilities for dining and exercise.

Apart from that, a range of services can be availed. These include recreational activities, healthcare services, housekeeping, laundry services, shuttle service, and third-party care via home care agencies, round-the-clock security, and wellness programs.

In-Home Care: what is it?

In the United States, the in-home caregiver services are becoming increasingly popular over time. Agencies offering in-home care services provide personal care, supervision, and basic companionship, to seniors. In-home care programs are suitable for elderly persons who prefer to stay at home while requiring continuous care that their loved ones are unable to provide.

By availing the option of in-home care, seniors can age within the comforts of their homes. Many in-home care plans offer a combination of healthcare services, non-medical services, and assisted living.

Previously, both ‘home health care’ and ‘in-home’ care were deemed to be the same. However, nowadays, ‘home health care’ refers to the inclusion of skilled nursing care while ‘in-home care’ refers to only non-medical care.

Depending on the services rendered, the costs of both options tend to vary.

As part of non-medical care services, the residents can avail laundry services, meals, supervision, housekeeping, personal care, companionships, shopping, transportation, among others.

Both in-home care agencies and insurance companies determine the specific needs of individuals on the basis of the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) rating. The ADL ratings are determined on six activities that display the person’s self-care ability. These include

• Performing light housework
• Preparing meals
• Shopping for food supplies and clothes
• Taking medicines
• Managing finances
• Using phones

While understanding the difference between home health care and in-home care is important. Generally, most seniors, over time, start to require both services.

Tips on what aspects to base your choices upon

Choosing between in-home care and assisted living homes is not easy, even if you’re well-versed with the services that both provide. To ensure you’re making the right choice for your loved one, you should consider some important aspects.

Assess how much care your loved one requires

The first step is to determine the requirements of your loved one. After you understand their needs, you must follow by comparing both options to determine which option is best. Begin by preparing a list of what the elderly person needs on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

Thereafter, you must think about how your family members and friends can help. Determine the seniors’ needs on a long-term basis because they require ongoing care.

After studying both lists, you will be able to gauge how much help is needed. Then, you will know whether assisted homes or in-home care will serve the given purposes best.

Assessing the Pros and Cons

In the below-listed details, the pros and cons of both options (In-Home Care and Assisted Living Homes) are discussed.

In-Home Care

Pros

• The specialized care can be tailored to meet the individual’s distinctive needs
• Seniors can remain in the comforts of their home or loved ones as they age
• The elderly person and their family members can choose among the different caregivers
• Rather than receiving care from many caregivers, the individual feels comforted with one person as the caregiver
• To lower costs, the patrons can combine different types of care

Cons

• The costs can go high if the individual requires 24*7 care
• Managing caretakers necessitates continual family participation
• Along with the benefits of in-home living, the seniors can feel socially isolated, which gives rise to various health problems such as cognitive decline and depression
• The home might have to be remodelled for wheelchair compatibility or safety measures
• In-home does not include services such as housekeeping, shopping for groceries, and personal care

Assisted Living

Pros

• More affordable if round-the-clock care is needed
• Families can focus more on their rapport with the elderly person
• Residents can socialize with others
• Family members do not have to hire or manage caregivers
• The level of care can be modified if needed

Cons

• Staff has to be changed often so the senior person does not receive consistent one-on-one care
• The quality of care varies with different caregivers
• Sometimes, residents may be asked to evict for various reasons with little advanced notice or none at all
• The elderly person may not want to live in a group environment