When aging loved ones require around-the-clock assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), families in Fort Wayne must make tough decisions about where and how that care will be provided. Unlike days gone by, many continual care options are now available, including 24-hour home care and assisted living. Since there are pros and cons to both, choosing the best option for your loved one can be challenging. Reading the following head-to-head comparison will allow your family to make a better-informed decision.
Assisted Living vs. 24-Hour Home Care Overview
If an aging loved one in Indiana needed continual care in the past, you may have considered assisted living first. But for those who require around-the-clock support, in-home care is also a viable option – even if your loved one has a condition that causes health, cognitive, or mobility changes. The main difference between assisted living and 24-hour home care is where the care is provided.
What is Assisted Living?
Assisted living is for seniors who need help with ADLs, but not as much help as a nursing home provides. Although they vary by size, type, and cost, most assisted living communities offer higher levels of care for an additional fee. Residents typically live in their own apartments or rooms while sharing common areas and taking advantage of social and recreational activities.
Available assisted living services may include meals, personal care assistance, medication management, light housekeeping, and laundry. The average assisted living community also offers 24-hour nursing supervision, private security, and on-site support staff.
What is Home Care?
Home care is care and support provided in the recipient’s private residence. Professional caregivers such as aides, nurses, and therapists provide short or long-term care in the home depending on the person’s needs.
Types of in-home care include:
Personal Care and Companionship
Private Duty Care
Home Health Care
Are 24-Hour and Live-In Home Care the Same?
With live-in home care, one caregiver is scheduled daily for a 24-hour period. Depending on the location, one caregiver can be booked for a maximum of four to five days per week. For the other days, a different caregiver is scheduled. Within each 24-hour visit, the daytime caregiver takes a four-hour break, during which care may need to be provided by an informal caregiver or another paid caregiver.
For a live-in shift, the caregiver is allowed an eight-hour sleeping break in a bed provided by the care recipient. Live-in care is typically billed at a flat per-diem rate. If additional provider-supplied coverage is needed during the primary caregiver’s four-hour break, that time is billed at an hourly rate.
What about 24-hour home care?
Conversely, with 24-hour in-home care, two caregivers are scheduled daily, each working a 12-hour shift. In some instances, clients prefer to schedule three, eight-hour shifts to ensure their caregivers are always fresh and alert.
One caregiver can work a maximum of four, 12-hour visits per week, which means different caregivers must be scheduled to cover the remaining visits. Although a caregiver gets no sleeping breaks during their 12-hour visit, the client can choose to allow them to sleep over.
In general, 24-hour home care is billed at an hourly rate. For an overnight visit, the fee is billed at a flat rate if it’s a sleeping visit or at an hourly rate if it is a non-sleeping visit.
The main benefit of having 24-hour care is that a caregiver is always there, whether it’s the middle of the night or mid-afternoon. In addition to peace of mind, some clients prefer this option because they believe their caregivers will be at maximum alertness.
How Are Assisted Living and 24-Hour Home Care Similar?
Assisted living facilities and home care agencies both offer similar around-the-clock personal care services, including these types of assistance:
· Bathing and grooming
· Dressing and wardrobe selection
· Toileting and incontinence care
· Mobility and transfers
· Cooking and meal preparation
· Light housekeeping
· Companionship and errands
· Medication reminders
Are There Different Levels of Assisted Living?
Depending on the facility, you may find two or more levels of resident care. For instance, if the facility offers two levels – lower and higher – this is how they differ:
Lower Level
This level of care is for residents with minimal assistance needs. These seniors can walk without help, have high-functioning cognitive abilities, and make their own decisions. While they may need some help bathing or dressing, for the most part, they are independent. Although nurses manage medications, check vitals, and administer regular tests, no complex medical monitoring is involved.
Higher Level
With this level of care, on-site caregivers provide more hands-on help for residents. Often needed around the clock, higher-level care is for seniors who cannot walk without assistance or need extensive help getting dressed, bathing, transferring, etc. Many older adults who require this care have significant memory loss and need complex medical monitoring.
At some assisted living facilities, residents pay one price for 24/7 care, whether they need it or not. In others, residents must pay more each month to receive a higher level of care.
Why Do Many Seniors Prefer 24-Hour Home Care?
Around-the-clock home care typically costs more per month than assisted living. So why would a senior choose to receive care at home versus an assisted living facility?
Seniors who receive 24-hour in-home care reap these benefits as a result:
Familiar Surroundings
If your senior is like most, they’ve lived in the same neighborhood for years. Moving them across town or state lines into an assisted living community could mean changing stores, their place of worship, and even healthcare providers – all of which can be very stressful.
Access to Loved Ones
Because your loved one will receive all the support they need in their private residence, you can visit them just as much as you normally would. With home care, families tend to stay more involved with the care and maintain a closer bond with loved ones. Most assisted living communities have strict visiting hours and other rules that must be followed.
Individualized Care
Privately funded, 24-hour home care can be custom-tailored to your loved one’s needs. For instance, they may only need help with tasks like hygiene or meal preparation. But if they require constant supervision, their dependable caregiver will always be there to help.
Heightened Level of Independence
Unlike a care facility, one of the main benefits of senior home care is that it allows your aging
loved one to maintain their freedom and independence. In most instances, they can continue their social activities, hobbies, and other interests as desired.
Mind Stimulation
Spending one’s retirement years in the safety, comfort, and familiarity of their own home is highly beneficial for the average senior’s emotional health, mental health, and memory function. Conversely, moving into a new setting may cause that same senior to feel anxious, lonely, and depressed.
One-on-One Attention
While in the home, your senior’s caregiver will give them undivided attention. In addition to making them feel special, 24-hour home care will make it more likely for all your loved one’s wishes to be respected.
Fall and Accident Prevention
Under the watchful eye of their caregiver, your senior will be less likely to experience a fall, fire, or accident than they would be in an understaffed facility without reliable supervision. A trained professional caregiver can also restore your peace of mind by pointing out home safety modifications that need to be completed.
Family Trusted 24-Hour Home Care for Seniors in Fort Wayne
When your loved one needs around-the-clock care, contact Senior1Care in Fort Wayne. We are a fully licensed and insured home care provider with highly trained professionals who are experts at delivering the nurturing your loved one deserves. While serving families in Fort Wayne, South Bend, Indianapolis, and Elkhart, our compassionate caregivers can perform various duties, around the home, including Personal Care, Light housekeeping, Companionship Care, Medication reminders, and even Recovery Care.
Our agency’s focus is maintaining your loved one’s quality of life, as well as their dignity, self-esteem, and independence. For your added convenience, all our in-home services can be individually personalized into an affordable package when and where you need them!
Please visit Senior1Care online now to learn more about us or schedule a FREE initial consultation for a senior in our service area.
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