Senior Care Costs

3 Reasons Families Fight about Senior Care

Caring for an aging parent, or elderly spouse presents tough challenges, particularly when a crisis hits and you are suddenly faced with the responsibilities of elder care. The absolute difficulty of the task, its high cost, as well as underlying family issues can bump to create a perfect storm of discontent. But when families put aside their differences and work together as a team for the best interest of their elderly loved one, they are often able to overcome this challenge.

Here are some reasons families fight about senior care:

Money Matters
Sometimes, special expenses ascend in regards to senior care that weren’t expected or planned. Other times, money just runs out. When this happens, families often fight about who should contribute, and how much they should contribute toward the costs for care.

Possible Solution: A good way to resolve this is to have a family meeting with all members present, whether in person or by phone. All costs should be laid out in the open, and members should be honest about what they can contribute. The significant thing is not to judge or criticize.

Parent Resists Care
Sometimes the whole family is on board and decides that their parent needs care, but the parent resists any change, tooth and nail. It’s understandable; people loathe giving up any independence, and place it highly among those things in life they prize most highly.

Possible Solution: When you’re trying to encourage a parent to accept a move to a senior community, make it clear that you’re not trying to “put them away.” Help your parent know your concerns and that they come from love.

Power Struggles
Family members most of the time disagrees about the type of care needed for their loved one. Extreme differences also tend to come to the forefront when end of life issues are confronted.

Possible solution: It’s vital to discuss the specific needs of your aging loved one, as well as their personal wishes. Then, your family can determine which option would provide the senior with quality care, comfort and happiness. During all discussions, it is essential to consider what each family member has to say, rather than acting out emotionally.

The most significant thing to remember with family relationships is that the only behavior you can truly control is your own. Understanding, patience, and forgiveness should be extended to siblings when a family is in crisis.

What To Look For In Senior Care Services?

The aging process can sometimes be stressful both to the elderly and their families. Senior care services strive to deliver the best care possible. They help seniors handle life’s challenges, build strong relationships, and emotionally support them as they journey through the aging period. So it is highly important to make sure that our elderly loved ones get the best care possible. Families must discuss specific qualities that would like to see in a senior care service:

Professional and Compassionate
A provider that is an expert in delivering quality service to seniors should be the top consideration of families. Employees of the said service should have the heart and passion for the elderly, not juts view the job as a means of living.Seniors have different personalities and families should ensure that they match their caregivers to their individual needs and differences. When a caregiver is committed and compassionate in helping seniors, this will create a positive and strong relationship between the elderly, their families, and the care givers themselves.

Creative and Respectful
Senior care providers should have a level of creativity where they can maintain an environment that keeps their patients active and enjoy activities like in a normal home setting. They should take into consideration a senior’s physical, mental and social faculties that contributes to their overall well-being.In addition, providers should demonstrate the highest degree of respect among their elderly patients. They should also understand the needs and find effective ways to enrich their lives with the work they provide.

When it comes to choosing a provider for your beloved elderly member, families should sit down, take time and thoroughly look into their options. Talking to the senior about their preferences and needs can help you narrow down this important decision.

Senior Care Job: Preparing for an Interview

Before landing a job as a senior care giver, you will need to undergo an interview. Employers primarily want to determine if you are a perfect candidate for the position. So, how are you able to show that you are the right person for the job?

An interviewer will ask questions about your characteristics. They prefer someone who:

is responsible, trustworthy, reliable, empathetic and patient. Since seniors have limited capabilities the aforementioned characteristics are vital. Make sure you have these qualities.
is reputable, experienced, and knowledgeable. A good track record of past senior care services is a huge advantage during interviews. They might ask you about your previous client, former responsibilities, and the reason for leaving the position. Remember to put in good references too.
who has a positive attitude towards work. You will not be alone in performing senior care services, you will also work with a group of health care professionals. Having qualities that make you easy to work with and enjoyable is a plus factor. Expect questions about your personality and attitude, such as what are your weaknesses and strengths and what do you like and dislike about the job.

Also, prepare yourself with situational questions like what you will do when an emergency occurs, how you can show dignity and respect in life-ending situations, and how you handle difficult patients. If you are able to answer these questions satisfyingly, then you might be a good fit.

As the interview commences, ask the interviewer questions as well. You have the right to know what are the specific needs and personality of the patient, experiences of previous senior care givers with the said patient, schedule of tasks, and any special precautions to take with the elder.

Of course, after the interview, you will need to know if you push through with the job. Decide whether or not you want to work with your employer, the elder patient, working settings, and responsibilities you will perform.

Senior Care Health Insurance

Medical health insurance policies may help cover part of the expense of elder-care. It is very important to know that to which a policyholder is eligible and it’s also essential to understand the restrictions of your respective insurance so you will not waste time pursuing benefits that they may never acquire. For people doing extended planning, comprehending the limits of coverage is important to avoid misunderstandings about who covers the cost for care later on.

As “elder-care” is a wide term and one not utilized by most medical health insurance corporations, it is useful to consider insurance benefits in categories instead of the whole.

As the majority of senior Americans have Medicare as their main health care insurance coverage, it is helpful to be aware of its benefits and coverage. To start with, it needs to be said that Medicare is only going to pay money for medical care; it doesn’t cover the expense of personal care. This means Medicare will not pay for assistance to help the elderly execute their activities of everyday living like bathing, grooming, eating and mobility. Therefore with little exclusion, Medicare will not pay money for home-care or assisted living. Medicare does cover elderly care, although not at 100% and only for a restricted time period.

In relation to medical equipment, healthcare supplies and medicines, Medicare offers benefits in each of such areas provided the items are medically important, determined by a physician and are among the list of approved items.

With regards to assisting people to age in place, Medicare will not pay for home improvements. However, Medicare offers a distinctive program in some spots through which all of a participating senior’s healthcare requirements are covered. These programs are usually well liked by individuals who are lucky enough to get to live in an area of the country where this sort of insurance is provided.

Senior Care and Taking Care of Yourself

Being the senior care provider to a parent might not seem like an important problem for some, but once you start to visit with your loved one, care for them and deal with many of the everyday issues that they face, it can become overwhelming at times. Stress is a common element of senior care, for both family members as well as paid professionals. That’s why it is significant to take care of yourself if you are involved in providing senior care. Below are a few tips to mull over that can help you reduce stress and also offer the highest level of care to the elderly individual.

Set a schedule. If you don’t have a set schedule for when you will visit to check on the elderly patient, then you could easily find yourself visiting more and more, without realizing it until you’re giving up a considerable part of your own life. Set a timetable and keep to it. If things change, if the senior’s demands or requirements change, then you can revert to the schedule again, but set a schedule first.
Have ‘Me’ time. Too often, family members give up a considerable portion of their life to care for their loved one. They end up putting their own interests on the back burner and this can cause more considerable issues for themselves and the quality of care. So make sure that you allocate time for yourself every week.
Learn to unwind. When caring for a parent in need, you may end up worrying more about them when you’re not there with them. While you are certainly doing a good thing by taking care of them, unless they live with you, you can’t be with them every minute of the day. Learn to let go and relieve constant worry. You can do this through meditation, yoga, prayer and other forms of self-help and healing.
Find senior care referral services. When you know where to find qualified senior care services, it will help in the event that you’re feeling beleaguered. Hiring a knowledgeable professional is one of the best ways to help care for yourself while providing senior care.

What Senior Care can Bring to the Table

Perhaps you cannot think about the situation, but for a short time, just close your eyes and think about what it could be like to be looking after your partner, an individual whom you’ve spent almost all your life with and looking after his or her needs because their health is starting to decline. Over time, the psychological and physical exertion for this act of love can affect even the best of us. If your parent or guardian is offering senior care to their partner, know that it could be more than they can handle.

But when your dad, for example, had a stroke or cardiac arrest and the physicians informed your mom that he was going to need extra help getting around the house and looking after his own well being, she said that she would deal with him. Maybe she considers that it’s her responsibility, or she loves him so much that she would not even think twice about being the individual to provide that stage of proper care for him.

And while you may think that she has everything under control, that she is doing well, the psychological cost can be even greater than the actual one. Dealing with being a senior care service agency to a partner is one of those things that are often an unmentioned pressure. She will not say that it’s wearing her down and she will continue to do what she can to make sure that her spouse, the love of her life, has what he needs and that he is safe and healthy.

However, what happens if that degree of care means that her wellness is affected as well? The best thing that anyone can do when their partner needs some form of senior medical care services is to consider choosing a professional care company to assist. This does not mean that your mom would not be there for your dad, but rather that she will get some much needed help so that she can be there for him psychologically as well. Senior care can create all the distinction in the world for a partner who is looking after the love of their life.

Senior Care and Technology

Hitting into an approximated $7 billion baby boomer spending potential, big businesses are focusing on technological innovation as it pertains to senior care and aging in place, writes USA Today. That technological innovation varies from supporting or changing the diminishing number of care providers comparative to those who depend on them, to distribution of medicine and smart houses that are prepared with receptors and other tracking devices and they are focusing on the aging inhabitants in groups.

Increasingly seen as a safety net for older parents and family members, electronic receptors and other home-based gadgets are giving satisfaction to family members of the aging inhabitants. This “technological trend of international significance” is offering alternatives from medicine management to safety and interaction and is increasing the ability for senior citizens in America to age in their houses. “Imagine bottle caps that shine when it’s time to take medicine, seats that take your vital signs and even carpeting that evaluate walking styles and predict physical damage and psychological infirmity. All are here or coming soon and will be a benefit to the country’s 78 million Baby Boomers, those born from 1946 to 1964, who are experiencing the possibilities of getting old with a reducing population of care providers.”

The technological innovation benefits those who use it, as well as the community in general, as a care provider shortage is approximated to match with the population of child boomers reaching their 70s and 80s. But difficulties are plentiful, too, with different gadgets and technological innovation current on a single platform, as well as the worry associated with tracking people in their houses, the article notes. Medical care and aging technology for senior care, however, is a big business and those who are creating alternatives now are on the cutting edge of what will amount to a large pattern later on. That includes technical leaders from Intel-GE to Qualcomm and many others that are in the field currently, or have programs to get into in the near term.

Millions of families are beginning to grapple with the one major health expense for which most Americans are not insured: long-term care. About 10 million elderly people currently rely on others for daily care, such as help getting dressed, preparing foods or taking medication. That number will only increase as more of the nation’s 78 million middle-agers enter old age. Nearly 7 in 10 people will need some way of long-term care after turning 65, according to the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. “Nobody wants to go to a senior care facility, it’s the last resort,” says James Firman, president of the National Council on Aging. “People want to stay in their own house and if they can’t, they want to go to a place where they can get assistance but that still feels homelike.”

Nursing houses are the most intense way of long-term care, including round-the-clock medical supervision. That level of senior care comes with a steep price tag: the average cost of a semi-private space last year was $81,000, according to a survey by insurance company MetLife. A private space ran more than $90,500. Fortunately most elderly people won’t require extended senior care facility care. Only 5 percent will need five years or more in a senior care facility.

Less intense alternatives include home-care solutions that offer help with foods and household chores, and boarding houses where some elderly people live with on-site caretakers. But like assisted living facilities, these solutions aren’t covered by Medicare, the government’s health care insurance option for elderly people, or private health insurance coverage. Plans for long-term care are available, but only about 5 percent of adults have them. Most family members don’t plan for long-term care, because often the need comes unexpectedly: an elder takes a bad fall or experiences a stroke. Cost is another problem, because policies can run $1,000 to $8,000 a year, based on a senior’s age, health and other aspects.