The Advantages of Home Health Care
- Home health care has many advantages.i have a pain right here doctor image by Peter Baxter from Fotolia.com
Baby boomers, the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964, are now entering retirement. Although once representing 40 percent of the nation's labor force, declining health, chronic disease, long-term illnesses and disabilities raise issues of long-term care for this generation and their loved ones. You can provide care for a loved one through a nursing home, assisted daily living facility or home health care. There are practical advantages to the home health care option. - Home health services run the gamut from assisted daily living needs such as bathing, dressing, grooming and feeding, to making appointments, providing companion care, preparing meals and extending medical care via nursing services. A home health aide typically provides the nonmedical services. Home health agencies can furnish nonmedical services and skilled nursing.
- Home care provides the opportunity for direct, personal and regular feedback with your loved one's home care provider. The proximity of care in the home leads to far more interaction with the home care provider and prompt, immediate follow-up.
You can also observe the interaction between your loved one and the care provider. This is far superior to obtaining a general report from a team of aides providing those services through a nursing home. - The cost of home health care is worthy of comparison. According to Genworth Financial's Cost of Care Survey in April 2010, the median cost of a licensed home health aide is $19 an hour, or $1,500 to $2,000 a month. The average aide provides assistance 6 hours a day.
Assisted Daily Living Facilities, which provide medical care in addition to hands-on personal care, have a national median cost of $3,185 per month, according to the Cost of Care survey in April 2010.
Nursing home care in a semiprivate to private room has a national median cost ranging from $185 to $210 a day, or $5,400 to $6,000 a month (again, according to Genworth Financial's survey). - Relieving immediate family members from the burden of care is important for the health of the family members. The emotional and mental stress from providing intimate daily assistance for a loved one can be overwhelming. The use of a professional provides immense peace of mind.
- Care in the home leads to greater accountability to you. The home health agency has a business incentive to ensure a positive experience for additional business in the marketplace. The agency will hire, train, supervise and bond the home health aide.
In addition, the interaction with a home health aide is superior to the interaction one has with a nursing home. The home environment lends itself to the sense that you are the employer and in control.
Instead of employing a local home health agency which provides a home aide to you, the option exists to hire a professionally trained private caregiver. The National Private Duty Association and the National Family Caregiver Association have member caregivers you can personally hire to ensure the greatest fit from a personality and companionship standpoint as well as cultural and faith considerations.
