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Elder care services are provided by staff where an elder patient resides or spends a significant amount of time. These services refer to the care that’s needed in order to maintain the patient’s health and some form of independence. Elder care services can be found through in-home caregivers, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, adult daycare facilities and adult foster homes. This type of service can be paid through public or private insurance, depending on whether the facility is private pay or accepts public assistance.
At-home Caregivers
A family member may realize their loved one needs more assistance then they can provide. This will often lead to the elderly family member being placed in a facility or they can remain at home, receiving help from a skilled caregiver. To find a caregiver the family member can go through a caregiving agency, which carefully screens their applicants and ensures they have no criminal record and that they are certified in CPR and First aid.
Another option for finding a caregiver is to place an ad on a classified website or in the newspaper. Going through an agency will be significantly more expensive, with the cost ranging from 14$ to 20$ an hour, whereas by finding a caregiver on your own you can set the hourly wage.
The in-home caregiver may only be needed for a few hours a day for cooking and cleaning, companionship or shower assistance or the family may need to hire a full-time or live-in caregiver for patients that require around the clock supervision.
How Adult Daycare and Adult Foster Care Works
Adult daycare is used for patients with disabilities or mental afflictions that need supervision while the patient’s family member is at work. This type of daycare works in a similar way as a daycare for children, however in this type of setting the staff is highly trained to provide medical care. Patients can be dropped off at this type of facility for the duration of the day. During the day, staff will help patients with bathroom care, feeding and ambulation. An adult daycare is also ideal for the fairly independent patient as daycare’s feature outings such as going to lunch or going to a movie or to the museum.
Many types of adult daycare’s can be covered by a patient’s private or public health insurance company and will typically charge 50$ to 100$ a day.
An adult foster home works like an assisted living, however it is much smaller. In a foster home there will usually be ten to thirty residents in a building that is typically a large house. Patients will share a room with another resident and will be able to attend meals in the home’s kitchen, have shower and dressing assistance and live much as they would if they were residing in their own home, just with the help of skilled medical staff. A foster home is also much more affordable than an assisted living and allows the patient to live in a place that feels less like a facility. The adult foster homes will accept patients of all care levels and will typically accept public assistance from insurance companies such as Medicare.
Foster homes are a great option for patients with high physical and mental care needs. Living in a foster home allows each resident to receive more one on one attention and care from caregivers and also provides a homier and more relaxed atmosphere. Often, this type of facility is not an ideal choice for patients who suffer from progressed dementia and exit seeking behaviors.
Cost in this type of facility is often much lower than what you will find at an assisted living facility or nursing home, yet this type of living environment still offers many of the same perks such as transportation and coordination of medical appointments, assistance with daily exercises and home occupational therapy and physical therapy visits and medication administration.