The past ten years has ushered in a new level of vocabulary for taking care of our senior citizens and elderly family members. “There are more terms to learn besides the traditional ‘nursing home’ because there are more services available to care for our older relatives,” says Thomas Bumgardner, attorney. “And with all of us living longer, there are more options for families and caregivers to understand when making decisions for our older family members.”
Nursing Homes vs. Assisted Living vs. Home Care
When deciding which option to pursue as discussions advance on how to take care of elderly family members, you should keep in mind three basic factors in your evaluations:
- Cost of service (monthly and annually)
- Level of care (medical? food? personal assistance?)
- Comfort for family member (private rooms, etc.)
The Basics on Nursing Homes
- Assistance with daily care tasks (bathing, eating, dressing, medical care)
- Built-in social network of residents and planned activities
- Housekeeping and food service
- Healthcare services
- Safety and monitoring
- Relieving family members of all care tasks
The Basics on Assisted Living
- Ideal for seniors in a transitional stage of aging
- Residents maintain control of their schedules
- Apartment-style housing, as opposed to communal housing
- Housekeeping services
- Pets are allowed
- Residents don’t require constant medical care
- Residents live more independently than nursing home residents
The Basics on Home Care
- Non-clinical care at home from a trained caregiver
- Senior lives in their own home but has help from outside people
- Caregivers can provide companionship
- Caregivers provide light housekeeping duties
- Assist in driving seniors to appointments and errands
- Caregivers can remind seniors about medications
“There are several levels of care and assistance available to our aging family members today,” added Bumgardner. “Unfortunately there can be legal challenges along the way with any of these elderly care models, and we’ll be available to help you understand the laws and to protect you from any wrongdoing.”
Should you need assistance with any legal challenges on nursing home abuse or assisted living problems, please contact Thomas Bumgardner at (704) 870-4779 or fill out our contact form here.