How is Senior Care Changing?

The landscape of senior care is changing. With a growing population, people living longer, and seniors remaining more active for longer periods of time, this is a necessity. Just what that landscape will look like though is still uncertain.

 

Right now, there are about 58 million people over the age of 65 living in the United States. Census predictions indicate that this number will rise to 82 million by 2050. If the care system is struggling to completely meet needs now, major overhauls will be needed in order to meet needs in the coming future.

 

This begs an important question: what changes are occurring now to get the system to where it will soon need to be?

 

 

For one, food is changing. That’s one of the big things that those receiving care have long complained about. Rather than bland generic food, many facilities are now serving specialty, gourmet food, made to meet the interests of those that live there. So many care facilities have focused on cutting costs, but food isn’t an area where this doesn’t need to occur. 

 

Also, many care facilities are adopting what they call a “person centered” approach. This places the emphasis on the individual receiving care and their specific set of needs. This is a strong approach because it pays serious attention to what the needs actually are, and not what the care service’s agenda or perceived needs might be.

 

When it comes to assisted living and nursing homes, one way that they are doing this is by incorporating more and more activities into their programming. These activities cover a whole range of interests and areas, from craft type activities to movie watching, exercise, or music. The important thing is to find something that people are interested in and to encourage social bonding. Care specialists are finding that social connection is one of the biggest components of long term success when it comes to senior care.

 

It’s also what in-home care has always strived to do. In-home care not only meets the person where they are physically, but where they are in their needs, goals, and desires when it comes to their care. In-home care has always taken a person centered approach–it’s one of the reasons that we here at Paradise In-Home Care do what we do.

 

Everyone deserves the highest quality care that they can get. If that involves changing the traditional models of care to better serve people, then that is the right thing to do.

 

Change can be a good thing. In this case, it is giving seniors and their families more choices and more opportunities to get connected to the resources that they need to thrive as they age. While change can be overwhelming if you’re used to having things a certain way, it doesn’t necessarily need to be. Working with a team of experts that is familiar with the field and can provide professional level guidance can make the experience a lot less scary.

 

We’d love to be part of your team. Call today to talk more about how professional in-home care can benefit your family.