Elderly and Senior Care Services
When caring for an elderly family member or other loved one, the task can take a physical and emotional toll. Helping to ensure that your loved one still has an excellent quality of life is rewarding. Still, the challenges of providing senior care services can become overwhelming over time, and you may need help.
Turning to a home care provider for in home elderly care can help. We know that trusting the wellbeing of a loved one to strangers is difficult. At Neighborly Home Care, we are dedicated to preserving the health, happiness, and independence of all those in our care, and we carefully match the caregiver to your family’s needs.
We can take the burden of care off your shoulders while allowing your older family members to continue living at home in health, peace, and comfort.
Caring for the Elderly at Home Can Be a Full-Time Job
What is senior care? Simply put, senior care means fulfilling the unique needs of older people brought about by their advancing age. There is no one-size-fits-all definition of elderly care because every senior citizen is different. Age affects everyone in their particular ways, so elderly care must always be tailored to the individual’s needs. Personalized services, composed of different types of care, are crucial to an effective senior care plan.
Some of the most common types of senior care services include:
Household Chores
Basic household chores such as cleaning and laundry can become increasingly difficult for those losing mobility and physical fitness. Yet, a significant part of elderly care revolves around seeing these chores done to have a clean and safe environment to live in.
Meal Preparation
Meals can be challenging for seniors to prepare if they are losing dexterity. Preparing food could even be dangerous when cutting tools are needed to cook the meal. Also, sometimes, seniors feel that preparing meals for one is too much trouble. These factors often lead to seniors eating unhealthy foods such as frozen meals, takeout, or fast food. Proper caregiving, however, can see them eating wholesome nutritious meals.
The advantages of in home senior care services for your loved one and yourself are numerous. As long as the senior has no medical issues or other chronic conditions which require direct doctor’s supervision, they will likely be far happier in a home care situation than in nursing home care.
Some of the benefits include:
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Living in the home they know. Why force your loved ones to move if they can safely stay at home? With proper assistance and consistent care at home, seniors can safely remain in the comfort of their own homes.
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Keeping their own pets. Few assisted living homes allow for pets. By choosing 24-hour home care, they can retain the comfort of beloved animal companions.
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Easier visits from friends and family. When the senior is still at home, friends and family can more easily keep up their standard visiting patterns.
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Maintaining social connections. Does your loved one enjoy trips to the park, the local senior center, or other hubs of activity? Those connections can be maintained, safety permitting, because their regular caregivers can drive them. Social seniors are usually healthier seniors!
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Having a sense of independence. We value your loved one’s autonomy. In-Home care is the best way for seniors to feel like they maintain some control over their lives and care.
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Easing your direct responsibilities. 24-hour-a-day care allows you to remain closely connected to your loved ones and their care while taking care of the other vital things in your life. These things include your health, your other family members, and your job, among others.
Senior Care Services Available in Pennsylvania and Delaware
At Neighborly Home Care, we tailor all of our senior care services to the exact needs of each individual, creating comprehensive care plans and providing personal care services. The services necessary will depend on the senior’s current state of bodily and mental health. However, our mission is clear at all times: to provide support for older adults while preserving as much of their independence and autonomy as is safely possible.
Toward this end, several levels of professional home care exist.
Typically, a family tries to care for their loved ones as they age. Family caretakers may split up senior care duties among everyone, or one or two people may dedicate themselves to providing that care. However, caregiving can become more difficult as time goes on. Eventually, family caregivers may have trouble keeping up with their self-assigned role while maintaining their own lives, relationships, and physical and mental health care.
Some common impediments to family-based elderly care include:
- Conflicts with jobs. Family members may have difficulty getting enough time off from work to provide care.
- Personal health issues. Even if no health problems exist before caregiving, stress and lack of self-care can cause physical or emotional symptoms to occur. Poor health makes full-time care of another impossible.
- Burnout. Caregivers are at high risk of stress, high blood pressure, depression, and other issues caused by burnout.
- Lack of training. Past a point, a senior needs a trained nurse or equivalent specialist to receive the level of care they need.
- Advancing dementia. Even the most caring and open-hearted people can be overwhelmed if their elderly loved ones lose their memories or communication ability. Professional dementia care can be an essential resource for family caregivers.
All of these issues can prevent family members from acting as full-time caregivers for their older loved ones. Fortunately, in home elderly care services are available to step in with well-trained and professional help.
