The Thriving at Home approach that we follow at Assisting Hands is designed to support and educate family caregivers. CNN posted a great article yesterday about family caregivers and the struggles they face. Senior care can be expensive, both in money and time. Family caregivers provide a lifeline for parents and grandparents who are struggling to perform their activities of daily living, but they can end up sacrificing their own careers and even their health.

The article states that “On average, it costs $10,830 a month to stay at a nursing home and $5,806 per month for an assisted living facility”. Health insurance may or may not cover any of that cost, and finding a facility that works with insurance (especially Medicaid) is difficult. An option that many are choosing is to provide care at home, so that seniors can age in place. A 2019 paper by Cliff Megarian, MD talks about the shift in care from hospitals to the home – his organization now sends “70% of patients directly home from surgery”. That represents a serious burden to the family caregiver.

The professional home care that we provide at Assisting Hands relieves some of that burden. We talk with family caregivers every day and coordinate care so that they can take a break. We help seniors and others who need assistance at a fraction of the cost of an assisted living facility. Most of our clients don’t need round-the-clock care – they are moderately independent and may just need a boost from time to time.

Fortunately, the need for home care and support for family caregivers is becoming more apparent, even to our elected officials. Support for caregivers was originally included in the 2021 infrastructure bill but was unfortunately removed during negotiations. See this opinion piece for some analysis of that and a call for more investment in our family caregivers.

If you or a loved one is struggling to provide care, please get in touch with Assisting Hands. We strive to be a resource to families in the community.