Examining Homecare Options: Continued Independence

Frustration is a common emotion. You spend your days struggling with tasks that were once simple - limited now by physicality. Your thoughts remain quick, your spirit remains willing, but age has taken an unfortunate toll on your body. It interferes with the routine you’ve so carefully crafted (and the independence you still crave).

Your family - well-meaning and worried - recommends a retirement village, thinking this will ease the burden of your days. You know, however, that home is truly where the heart is, and these walls are woven with too many memories to consider leaving. How can you stay, though, when completing basic household chores becomes such a complication?

You must consider home care options.

Examining Your Options: Home Care

To maintain both your home and your independence, you must recognize the options available to you - ones that extend beyond your family and friends.

Certified Agencies

Agencies - known as in-home providers, senior care providers, or companion providers - offer qualified support. Their qualified LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses), RNs (Registered Nurses), and HABs (Habilitation Technicians) deliver a series of respite services. These include housekeeping, personal grooming and dressing, ambulation assistance, meal preparation, and medicine administration. They comply with healthcare standards and enable independent living.

The cost of certified agencies is often impossible to predict. A variety of factors - including Medicaid and Medicare plans, private policies, and personal payment plans - impact each senior. Consult with an insurance representative to examine all potential expenses.

Daycare Programs

Adult daycare provides a crucial function for seniors, allowing them to engage with the community and further stimulate their both minds and bodies. Through a variety of activities - such as art therapy, music therapy, exercise programs, educational programs, and interactive technology courses - these centers provide vital support.

They also enable seniors to remain at home: reducing the time spent alone and ensuring regular meal, medication, and healthcare routines. They foster a greater quality of life for all men and women - and this counters the need for full-time retirement care.

Meal Assistance Programs

Cooking often presents a challenge for seniors. Impaired physical abilities - combined with limited access to transportation, making shopping difficult - undermines meal-creation efforts. This may lead to a lack of nutrition, with many over 65 unable to accommodate their changing dietary needs.

Assistance programs, therefore, are essential for those wishing to remain independent and at home. These government-funded options connect seniors to healthy, hearty food - which often requires nothing more than a microwave or convection oven to heat. This ensures convenience with every meal.

Examples of these programs include Meals On Wheels (which prepares and delivers nutritious meals); The Mobile Market (a grocery service that provides canned goods and fresh dairy products); and the OAA Nutrition Program (which ensures that limited-income households receive healthy meals, as well as comprehensive food education).

These options provide seniors with the support, care, and companionship they need.

Conclusion

You don’t feel that you belong in a retirement village. Instead, you belong at home – and, through home care agencies, adult daycare centers, and meal assistance programs – you can maintain your lifestyle and embrace your independence.