With so many different types of senior care services available, you might feel overwhelmed while selecting senior care for your loved one. To make this process simple, you should learn the differences between these services, in order to choose the most suitable one.
Skilled care describes high-level care given by trained medical professionals such as registered nurses, physical, occupational, and speech therapists. It consists of evaluating and monitoring vital signs, wound care, monitoring medical equipment, physical therapy activities, injections, and intravenous (IV) therapy.
Supportive care, also known as non-skilled or custodial care, provides assistance with daily living activities. Both custodial care and skilled care can be offered in multiple settings. For example, they may be provided at home, in adult day care, or as a part of residential care such as an assisted living community or nursing home.
Assisted Living is a shelter which is meant to provide the disabled or elderly citizens with nursing, meals, and housekeeping services as needed. It provides support to people who need assistance in only some aspects of their daily life. However, every facility is different. Therefore, it is important to understand the areas in which your loved one needs help in order to select the appropriate care and facility for them accordingly.
This type of care is more specialized. They offer full-time personal care assistance, along with meals and social activities. This type of care also provides facilities for persons with dementia or other diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s disease, and more. These diseases cause a decline in a person’s mental ability and interfere with their daily life.
Home care, is also known as supportive care, personal care, attendant care, or custodial care. This care provides assistance with dressing, bathing, cooking, laundry, running errands, transportation, or other activities. Note that a home care professional does not need to be licensed.
Adult Day Care refers to adult day medical care or adult day social care. It offers supervised care in an organized setting during daytime hours. It is usually provided on weekdays so that the caregivers can go to work. This care offers meals, therapies, and various other activities. Adult day medical care typically offers similar activities that adult day social care does, along with medical services for the elderly.
Virtual companion care is a relatively new service that uses technology. Here, senior citizens living at home are contacted virtually via a computer. This type of care has effectively reduced isolation and loneliness for many seniors.
Palliative care focuses on relieving pain and suffering. The main objective of this type of care is to improve the quality of life of the elderly who are facing life-threatening illnesses.
Hospice care is provided to terminally ill patients in the last weeks or months of their lives. This often includes palliative care. However, hospice is not offered to everyone who receives palliative care.
Senior citizens often want to stay in their homes as they get older, which is known as aging in place. Senior citizens chose this option because it is more comfortable and familiar to them. The good news is, with the right help from senior in-home care people, they can conveniently do just that.
Whichever type of senior home care you choose, you should always ask for and verify references before doing so. Newport Home Care offers efficient 24-hour in-home care services at affordable prices to the communities of Orange County, CA. We are one of the highest-ranked facilities for “the best at-home care near me” web searches. Contact us to know more about our elderly care services.
