Watching our loved ones age isn’t easy. In our current culture, it’s harder than ever to feel certain that daily needs are being met. Whether family members live far away or have restricted contact because of health concerns, most feel that current video technology isn’t enough to ensure that daily living activities run smoothly. When considering options to provide the best care possible for aging loved ones in the San Francisco area, you may ask, what is home care, how does home care differ from nursing care, and is home care the same as palliative care?
Family members desire to make sure that quality of life remains strong as the older generation ages. They often discover the services available through home care and quickly realize the many benefits.
Providing Care for Loved Ones Without Nursing Care
The thought of nursing home care is not an attractive idea to most aging citizens in the U.S. Financial concerns are significant. Just the national average for nursing home pricing can quickly eat away at savings and retirement plans. Senior citizens and families alike have concerns about the quality of care provided in nursing homes. While thousands of nursing homes in the U.S. provide exceptional quality of care, the stigma surrounding the industry fuels concerns. It causes fear and anxiety to fill the minds of seniors.
Home care is an excellent solution for those who want or need to remain in their private homes and enjoy a quality, independent lifestyle. It’s a viable option that provides the level of help needed to safeguard seniors’ well-being and guard their daily home health.
Private Home Care
Home care services focus on helping clients continue living independently in their own private homes while seeing that routine needs are met. Many elderly clients feel strongly about living at home and don’t want to feel that their daily care is a financial or emotional burden to their children or loved ones. Home care services provide the help they need while preserving their desire to maintain their homes, independence, and sense of self-worth.
Services included with home care can vary greatly – from companionship, light housekeeping, help with transportation, or the inclusion of medical services provided by skilled nurses. There is a vast menu of service options available for home care, with each service designed to help elderly clients feel peace of mind. Home care can effectively calm the hearts of those trying to oversee care from afar.
Patient Care Services Provided with Home Care
What does home care provide? Home care professionals help in many various activities of daily living and lifestyle assistance care, including:
- Bathing, dressing & personal hygiene
- Using the bathroom
- Mobility within the home
- Light housekeeping
- Laundry
- Healthy Meal Preparation
- Limited errands
- Transportation to medical appointments or social activities
- Conversation and companionship
Some Home Care Providers also offer help from skilled professionals for services such as:
- Taking and recording vital signs
- Assistance with needed in-home equipment like wheelchairs and walkers
- Reminders to take medication
- Monitoring health concerns and tracking changes
When a patient needs an elevated level of care inside their home, there are many options. There are noticeable differences between home care (detailed above), nursing home care, home health care, hospice, and palliative care.
Nursing Home Care
Nursing homes are full-service facilities that provide 24-hour routine and emergency care. They provide room and board, personal assistance, medication monitoring, social activities, and other provisions that vary between facilities. There is often a long wait before gaining admission so moving a patient into a nursing home requires prior planning. Some Medicare or Medicaid coverage may be available for patients who qualify. Cost and regulations for services vary between states.
Home Health Care
Unlike home care, home health care entails medical assistance that is received inside the patient’s private home. When routine health care requires more attention and additional care becomes necessary, this is a preferred option. Nursing care is under the oversight of a doctor who may provide and manage prescription medications, manage the treatment of wounds and injuries, and administer injections. Home health care is for patients who struggle with mobility and have trouble physically getting to a doctor’s office or urgent care facility. Home health care is sometimes covered under insurance plans and Medicare.
Hospice and Palliative Care
A Hospice or Palliative caregiver collaborates efforts among many health care professionals and provides private in-home care. Palliative care is life-prolonging care, while hospice is end-of-life care. The aim is to manage the medical, social, emotional, comfort, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. The level of care is determined by the patient’s needs and can vary from day to day as conditions warrant. Medicare may cover the financial aspects of these services.
Determining the Level of Services You Need
If your loved one is somewhat mobile and able to manage a degree of personal care, you may simply need a little hands-on assistance. Experiencing home care can bring loved ones great comfort knowing their elderly family member has a means of leaving the house and also receives frequent checks on their welfare.
This is especially true when family members live out of state without the ability to oversee care first-hand. Care providers are ready and available to provide nearly any level of assistance needed. In exploring home care, most families discover that a caregiver will often make a great companion and develop a meaningful friendship with those under their care.
As we examine the question, what is home care, it becomes the clear option for many seniors who are relatively independent but need extra assistance to accomplish routine activities within their private home. A professional caregiver can provide a variety of companionship, household, or hygiene solutions to assure family members that their loved one is healthy and living a quality life.
We hope that when the time comes to choose a provider for home care in the San Francisco, California area, you’ll consider ameriCARE San Francisco.
Call us today so we can provide the assistance and support you need for your loved one.
ABOUT ameriCARE San Francisco
ameriCARE San Francisco is a family-owned and operated home care agency serving all the San Francisco Bay Area. We are a new kind of in-home care. We believe it’s time the senior home care experience became more personalized, positive, and empowering. We offer home care assistance that is flexible and accommodating to your schedule with no contracts. Our in-home care services leverage smart technology that not only improves our personalized care plans but also provides more transparency into our daily care in the home and our communication with the entire care circle. ameriCARE San Francisco believes that thoughtful, personalized care has the power to not only maintain but also enrich anyone’s quality of life.