Introduction
to Senior Care Alternative Choices
In
today's health system we are often lured with the words “quick care” or “urgent
care” to describe the type of care we receive. In fact, what we need is
continuity of care. Continuity promotes complete care and quality care.
Imagine
how your experience in health care might be different if you saw the same
doctor, nurse, or caregiver every day instead of seeing a different caregiver
each day. Indeed, if you are young and have just one problem seeing a different
provider might make less difference since there is little history to uncover
each time. In general, young people have one problem and do not have a long
complex medical, social, financial and emotional health history.
On
the other hand, seniors and those with chronic disease, have a lifetime of
problems that are usually progressive and changing as they age. When you choose
a senior care setting for a loved one who needs minimal care today, be sure to
consider continuity of care, and what needs they will have in the future. For
seniors, there are only a handful of alternative Senior Care options. Assisted
Living facilities, Residential Care Homes, Home care and nursing homes are the
options available.
There
is a lot to consider BEFORE making that expensive and life altering decision of
which senior care setting is best for you, not just for the resident or senior,
but for the entire multi- generational family. In all cases, it is the people
who are doing the work, day in and day out, they are the ones that play a large
part in determining the quality of facility. Senior Care Assistance is a
service. The quality and continuity of the service is very dependent on the
management, administration and entire staff.
Does
each of these people have direct and frequent contact with the residents and
families? Moreover, we want to emphasize that this is an expensive choice, no
matter what you choose Independent Living, Home Care, Residential Care Homes,
Assisted Living, or Nursing Home. It can cost $3,000-$7000 a month or $36,000-
84,000 per year, if not more. The costs can go up depending on the setting and
the level of assistance needed. That is like getting a new car every year, so
we strongly urge you to consider what you really want and need, when making
this expensive choice.
When
choosing any type of assisted care you need to include the fact that it is
likely that you will need more care as time goes on. You need to be sure that
the care setting care practically provide what they say they can. We also want
to note that this choice affects the entire family. When hospital or doctor’s
visits occur, in general, it is the family who has to supervise those complex and
changing parts of many senior care settings.
Only
by having the highest continuity of care, can the family receive the support to
make sense of the confusion and frustration that is increasingly occurring in
the health care system. Each family member must visit several care settings and
ask a few standard questions.
When
a senior, considering Assisted Living, actually starts down the road of needing
even a small amount of assistance, Continuity of Care becomes the number one
issue.
Remember,
Continuity of Care is a person or a team of people keeping track and knowing
what is happening to a person at all times; whether it is relating what
happened on a doctor visit, what the family members say on each visit, who
visited or emailed most recently and how a resident is feeling day to day.
Continuity
of care can continue out of the Assisted Living setting when a senior goes to
the doctor’s office or to the hospital. Providing Continuity of Care in all
care, physical, emotional and social care provides the highest level of
emotional health and well- being.
Things to Consider
-Can
you have the best care or high quality care, if you do not know or recognize
the person providing the care?
-Does
a facility have multiple employees? How can you know which employee you will
get on any given day? If you do not know whom you are getting, how can you know
what you are getting in terms of care?
-We
believe that providing care requires having a relationship, even professional
relationships. We believe that both sides have to earn and develop trust, which
contributes strongly to both sides valuing the quality of care received.
We
agree with the notion stated by Patch Adams (played by Robin Williams in the
movie “Patch”) “if you treat disease you win or lose, but if you treat the
person you win every time.”
Vasilios "Voss" Speros
602-531-5141
