The aging process is different for everyone. Some seniors remain physically and mentally fit and maintain the ability to live an independent lifestyle. Others, however, may start to show signs of inadvertent self-neglect. For the latter, families are encouraged to set up home care services.
What Is Home Care?
Reliable home care offers essential support to elderly individuals in the comfort of home. Professional caregivers arrive as scheduled and provide assistance with a variety of everyday tasks, including the activities of daily living, meal preparation, and support with mobility.
Home care is far less expensive than other types of senior care. Services provided by home care professionals also offer convenience; seniors receive support in their own home. Safety and comfort are maximized; and by living at home, the elderly feel empowered.
In fact, the majority of seniors prefer to age in place. According to polls, nine out of 10 Americans age 65 and over prefer to live out their lives in their own homes; and, 80 percent of older adults polled prefer to live in their current residence.
What Are The Benefits of Home Care?
Considering that 70 percent of people age 65 and older will require long-term care at some point, home care provides a practical, accessible solution. Home care is easy to start, and care services are flexible. Care plans are often adjusted as seniors’ needs change over time.
Quality home care helps seniors stay healthy. Regular care provided by professional caregivers has a profound impact on a senior’s physical well-being. Caregivers can spot signs of illness well before they become serious. These professionals also help seniors avoid slip-and-fall accidents.
Emotionally, seniors benefit significantly from home care. Prolonged feelings of loneliness and isolation adversely affect a senior’s health. Professional caregivers interact with care recipients, offering invaluable social interactions and companionship. As a result of social support, feelings of depression are averted.
What Are Indications That Home Care is Necessary?
As is evident, home care offers seniors and families several advantages. When seniors are independent and functioning, extra support at home may be unnecessary. However, when aging individuals display the following changes in functioning, families are advised to explore home care options.
1. Low Scores in the Activities of Daily Living
Families may chart the activities of daily living (ADLs) when measuring the level of care a senior requires. Six primary categories are included in the activities that contribute to everyday living: bathing, dressing, toileting, mobility, continence and feeding. Each activity is given a score.
The six ADLs are equal in importance to daily life. When a senior independently completes one activity, she receives a score of 1, but if unsuccessful, a 0. Higher scores indicate the senior’s ability to live independently. Lower scores show a need for extra support.
2. Low Scores in the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
Similar to the ADLs are the instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). The IADLs are broader, covering activities, such as paying bills, maintaining the home, providing transportation, socializing, and cooking meals. Scores are utilized to assess independence, just as with the ADLs.
3. Chaotic Home Environment
An unkempt home environment may mean it is time to start home care services. A senior may no longer be physically able to push a vacuum or load a dishwasher. A disorderly home is a danger to seniors, as accumulating clutter is a fall hazard.
Bruising is a sign that a senior has fallen. Frequent falls suggest that the home environment is littered with obstacles and is unsafe. Home care professionals are important at this point, as they provide routine fall risk assessments to ensure the home is clutter-free.
4. Expired Food
Visiting family members should look inside the senior’s fridge. Piles of expired food signal that the elderly homeowner is unable or unwilling to prepare meals. If the senior shows unintended weight loss, it is a warning that the individual may no longer remember how to cook.
5. Poor Hygiene
A lack of self-care is evident when the senior’s personal grooming habits noticeably deteriorate. The individual may no longer have the physical ability or willingness to bathe or do laundry. When the senior wears unclean or stained clothing, an extra hand at home may be necessary.
6. Medication Noncompliance
Prescription medications are critical to health. Medication noncompliance occurs when the elderly individual fails to take the medicine as prescribed. A senior may forget to refill prescriptions, for instance. If the senior has difficulty managing multiple medications, home care will be helpful.
7. New or Worsening Health Issues
A senior who experiences new health issues will benefit from the in-home care of a skilled professional. Similarly, when health problems worsen, home care professionals can step in, providing transportation to physical therapy and doctors’ appointments and providing medication reminders.
Home care is intended to improve the quality of life for seniors. When an aging loved one shows any of the above signs of decline, start discussions about home care services. Assisting Hands Home Care is available when you and the senior in your life agree to hire extra support.
Licensed, professional caregivers from Assisting Hands Home Care are vital to a senior’s physical and emotional well-being. We support seniors with all the ADLs, including personal care (such as bathing, brushing teeth and grooming), incontinence care, transfer assistance, and getting dressed.
Our responsibilities also include help with the IADLs. Caregivers provide transportation to senior centers, exercise classes and to conduct errands. We offer light housekeeping and prepare balanced meals. Our caregivers are excellent companions, preventing loneliness and social isolation in seniors.
Assisting Hands Home Care services are flexible. Whether you need short-term respite care or 24-hour care, we will customize an ideal care plan to suit those needs. We also offer post-operative care, live-in care, and compassionate memory care for seniors living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Families with seniors living in Palos Heights, Illinois, are encouraged to consult Assisting Hands Home Care for the most reputable home care services in the area. A complimentary in-home consultation will start the journey toward high-quality senior care at home. Call us for the best in elder care.
