Demographic experts estimate that the senior population will grow from 50 million people to 75 million people over the course of the next ten years. That’s a 50 percent increase in just a decade–a staggering number by any measure. This large growth is due to the last of the Baby Boomers entering their senior years and has been expected for quite some time. The Baby Boomers are those who were born in the aftermath of World War II–the largest population boost that the U.S. had ever seen. And now these are the people that will be in need of senior care, or will be needing it in the near future.
A growing senior population has necessitated changes in how senior care is administered. And because there’s still a lot of growth ahead, even more changes will be required. Some have referred to this as the senior care crisis, but it doesn’t need to be a crisis if it is handled well ahead of time. In many ways, it has been. A lot of states have seen that including in-home care in state and government sponsored health insurance programs has helped to cut government spending and make care more easily accessible to a wider number of people. There have been big pushes for more care professionals, with varying degrees of success. That’s not to say that the crisis has been resolved, but because of the awareness that has been created, a lot of potential issues have been avoided. Plans are in place to help avoid future issues, too.
More work is needed, and some of it can be done by me and you. For example, knowing what our community resources are before we need to tap into them can help to alleviate strains put on formal care channels. Knowing what types of care exist, and in what scenarios you would need to utilize them, will help to make finding the ideal type of care for a loved one easier in the future.
Educating ourselves regarding senior care now will have big payouts for us later. It can mean the difference between good and great care later on. It can also help us to prevent from paying too much for the wrong type of care. These things might seem simple–and they are. But simple doesn’t mean ineffective.
Ultimately, every senior citizen deserves high quality assistance. Regardless of the health issues that they might be facing, everyone deserves to have a skilled and compassionate caregiver working with them, helping to make life a little bit easier.
If this is an area that you would like some guidance with, feel free to reach out. One of our skilled caregivers would be more than happy to sit with you and listen to your concerns and answer your questions. We offer this at no cost and no obligation on your end. Our goal is to help and empower you and your family so that you can give your parents or grandparents the care and help that will help them the most.
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