In case you didn’t notice, the pandemic exposed a whole bunch of issues within the senior care business. Not only were seniors hit the hardest by COVID, the staffing issues and safety concerns that came to light as the pandemic gained ground showed that perhaps the traditional model of senior care wasn’t necessarily the best one.
There have been alternative forms of care out there for years, but they didn’t really start gaining any sort of widespread recognition until just recently. In-home care is one of those types of care that has recently seen a lot more attention, but it’s certainly not the only kind.
The Baby Boomer generation is the generation of individuals that were born directly after World War Two ended. Someone born in 1947 is now 75 years old and could very well be in need of senior care, or may have needed it for a bit, depending on their existing needs. As you might know, the Baby Boomer generation was the largest generation ever born in the U.S. and as this population sees their needs grow, it has placed a strain on the senior care and healthcare systems.
Experts have seen these changes coming for years and had started putting safeguards in places to help ensure that seniors continued to receive the quality of care that they needed. COVID sped it all up.
Demographic changes happen. It’s a part of living in a larger community. The demographic shift that we are currently facing, along with issues that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, both have the potential to place senior citizens at a greater risk as they age, especially if there isn’t already access to senior care in your community.
Being aware of this is the first step. Doing something about it is the second. Tools like what were discussed above can help to alleviate some of the strain, but not all of it. Being proactive about your care and the care of your family members is one of the best ways to stay ahead of any sort of care shortage that might be present in your area.
It starts with knowing what your loved one’s needs are and how care can address those needs. For someone with advanced medical needs that requires a lot of nursing care, the nursing home might be your best choice. But most seniors don’t require this level of care. Most have urgent needs of a nonmedical nature. In instances like this, you have a lot more freedom to find care that fits in with your family’s goals and desires. You have more of an ability to customize the care that you’re getting so that it works for everyone involved.
Customized care ensures that your loved one is getting what they need, and not getting what they don’t need or what might be counterproductive. In-home care helps to accomplish this in a way that many other types of care can’t–and it’s done right where most people want to be: their own homes.
If you would like to learn more about care and how your family will benefit, let us know!
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