One of the biggest questions people with an elderly parent have is whether or not their mom or dad needs senior care. There’s no cookie cutter answer for this, but rather, it’s a matter of judgment on your part. Let’s take a look at what insurance companies use to judge the necessity of care, and then go a bit deeper.
Insurance Guidelines
In order to try and standardize this question, insurance companies have established a set of guidelines to determine whether someone will legally be covered for long term care insurance. These are six different activities including, all of which involve personal care. They include: bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring. These are the bare minimum things that someone needs to be having trouble with in order to qualify through an insurance policy for long term care.
Meeting Needs
Obviously, there’s a lot more to needing help than these basic tasks. Sometimes, you might feel the need for getting an in-home caregiver even if your parent excels at each one of these six things. Other things that are important are not on this list. Shopping, getting to doctors’ appointments, help with finances, managing medications, and using the phone are all vital parts of staying healthy, yet they are not mandatory items to get coverage from an insurance company. Your loved one has other needs too, and they might not be recognized directly from this list. Companionship is another need that should be addressed, and no insurance company will cover your care for this reason. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not important. It can go a long way toward improving mental health, and this can give your parent a new fortitude and better outlook on their life.
Which Care is Best?
Again, this is a personal decision, and it depends all on what the needs are that need to be met. However, almost all non-medical needs can be met through either in-home care or assisted living. The big difference between these two is that one takes place in the home and the other does not. Assisted living facilities are also places where your loved one can interact on a daily basis with other seniors. Still, most people prefer to live within their own homes for as long as possible. Socialization is important, but most people do not want to be around people outside their family on a perpetual basis. In-home care is usually right around the same price per year as an assisted living facility, but in-home care is adjustable in the amount of time that care is given, so the cost could conceivably go up or down, depending upon the needs of your loved one.
Ultimately, what it comes down to is what is best for your loved one, both physically and emotionally. You need to meet their needs, but you also should be striving to make them happy, too. This is a fine line to walk, but it is possible to achieve success in both areas. Give your parent the very best that you can give them, even if they don’t necessarily fit the legal definition of someone that needs care.
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