Home Health Aides
Many aging Florida residents choose to move into a nursing home or some form of senior housing. But more and more are choosing to stay in their homes, or “age in place.” It can be difficult for some seniors to function at home, but hiring home health aides can dramatically expand their options.
What Is Aging in Place?
For many senior adults, the ideal approach to aging involves aging in place. This means staying in their own homes as they age and taking the steps necessary to be independent for as long as possible. Although some elderly people are still choosing retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and skilled care institutions, many are choosing to remain at home and getting whatever in-home help they need to stay there.
Aging at home does come with challenges. Poor health and impaired mobility issues may present threats to independence. However, home health aides can provide all the services of an assisted living facility in the senior’s own home. This can enable a senior to remain at home in comfortable and familiar surroundings throughout the aging process, and at a cost that is often preferable to other options.
Many aging adults choose to age in place to maintain their established routine and familiarity with a particular home or community. Home health aides can ensure that seniors are well cared for without forcing them into an unfamiliar, and possibly distressing, environment. In-home care can help seniors stay at home and feel safe, supported, and comfortable.
What Is In-Home Care?
Often times, seniors are able to live reasonably independently but still need some support. They may need some help with their personal care and assistance with things like household chores and home maintenance.
Home health aides can help with activities of daily living, including:
Bathing
Grooming
Eating
Keeping track of medications
Moving around the home
In-home care can also help with instrumental activities, which are essential tasks that aren’t directly related to their physical needs, like meal preparation and light housekeeping.
Aging adults may also need skilled nursing care. In-home elder care nurses can provide medical support such as wound dressing, administering medications, giving injections or IV treatments, and other complex interventions requiring a higher level of nursing skills.
In-home care can also offer some additional advantages, depending on the situation like giving the family updates on the senior’s condition and collaborating with other medical professionals that are involved in keeping the aging adult healthy.
Seniors and their families that are in search of home care for their aging loved ones typically have numerous questions about their options and what to expect. Services offered can vary based on agency. The level of care can be customized, whether it be for a few hours a day, a few times a week, or around the clock.
Ultimately, having home health aides from the right home care agency can ease stress and worry, as many can manage all the needed care and coordinate the details, which can be the key to success for seniors aging in place. Contact Expicare Nursing today to get started with your loved one’s needed care.