Who can remember their parents putting their grandmother into a nursing home? It used to be the accepted mode of operation. If Grandma could no longer care for herself, she was put into a facility who could care for her. These were dreary places that reeked of yesterday’s food, urine, and disinfectants, where older folks were sent to die. And die they did! A patient in a double room could expect roommates to die on a regular basis.
It’s no wonder the places spoke of untold horror for the elderly and made their children feel mountains of guilt that they weren’t able to take care of aging parents themselves, but there were no better options. We are luckier today, however, because there is another, much more pleasant option for our senior citizens. There are a lot of good reasons why home care is becoming the choice of older people everywhere.
Home care comes tailor-made for almost every individual. What it means is that a person who has difficulty in taking care of their own needs can get the help they must have right in their own homes. Senior citizens no longer have to leave the place where they feel most comfortable and be herded into an uncaring facility. Instead, caregivers can be hired who develop a one-on-one relationship with their patients and who will give the person exactly the care they need.
Home care offerings differ from caregiver to caregiver. Some of these people are trained nurses who can offer around-the-clock medical care. Others specialize in helping seniors with personal care, doing light housework, cooking meals, providing transportation, shopping, or any of hundreds of other services.
No longer do younger folks have to make the heart-wrenching decision to put parents into less-than-satisfactory institutions and instead can feel glad that their loved one is receiving excellent care right in their most comfortable environment. It’s no wonder that an estimated 1.4 million seniors are now using home care or that this number is expected to double by the year 2030.
Home care is not a new idea, but it’s being done with a modern twist. Historically, aged parents stayed with their children when they could no longer live alone. When women started working outside the home on a regular basis, nursing homes took on a much bigger role in senior care. Unfortunately, it often wasn’t what it was supposed to be which gave nursing homes a bad name. Now we’ve moved on from this type of institutionalization to something much, much better. Home care is definitely a wave of the future.