To make the decision-making process easy, you must focus on three areas – the extent of help seniors need, their financial situation and understanding the differences between home care and assisted living in a community.
Determine how much help they need
The condition of individuals concerning their ability to do their daily work should help to determine how much help they need. Comparing it with the service already available at home should indicate what to do to meet the expected level of support so that they receive the best care. The exercise helps identify the gap and understand whether home care would be enough. It consists of making a list of all kinds of help that the senior needs daily, weekly and monthly, and then figuring out how much actual use would be available from the family, friends, and neighbours in the long term.Differences between home care and assisted living.
In-home care, the caregiver is either someone from the family or a hired professional who helps seniors with the support they need to carry out their daily activities. The family chooses the caregiver, and the senior is under the care of a single caregiver. Help is available for meal preparation, moving around the house, bathing, dressing, transportation, toilet going, etc. Seniors receive customized help packages with individual attention.In an assisted living facility, many seniors live under one roof in separate rooms or small apartments and enjoy community living. Most communities have elaborate arrangements for providing all kinds of care for all types of seniors, from those who can live independently to those who need a high level of care. The scope of services is similar or sometimes even more than what they receive in-home care. However, individual care on a one-to-one basis would not be possible.
The financial situation of seniors
Home care is more expensive because you must create dedicated facilities for an individual, whereas assisted living is cheaper due to shared facilities. Moreover, if the senior suffers from memory problems, the costs would be much more as you must look for memory care facilities near you. Although the financial condition of families influences the choice sometimes, they have no choice, especially for people suffering from memory diseases.Knowing which choice would work best and matching it with the budget is the best way to take a pragmatic decision. Since the needs are specific to each person, the location, financial condition and the kind of help needed should be the primary considerations in making the right decision.
