Aging is a process that affects all animals on the planet, humans included. One of the hardest facets of reaching adulthood is watching your parents reach late-adulthood and enter into old age. Apart from the health issues that spring up as we reach the retirement period and beyond, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, this can also be hard on the children of the elderly, who might have just begun to establish financial success or start a family of their own.
With the average retirement age currently at 63, many members of our community between 40 and 55 years old are forced to deal with the responsibility of caring for their parents while also caring for themselves and their offspring. Fortunately, many services are offered to help assist in caring for the retired and elderly. Here are 3 reasons why senior home health care may be the best option for your family:
- People Need Assisted Living Facilities More Than They Like to Admit. According to Age Wave, a great deal of people surveyed underestimate the chance of themselves needing assisted care in the future. When asked whether they believed that they would need long-term care at some point, only 37% of those age 50+ agreed with this statement–in reality, 70% of those age 50+ eventually will need senior living services. Many offspring are also reluctant to separate from their parents; however, responding to them as an additional full-time responsibility may have more drastic consequences for both parties. In a study by Genworth Financial, 55% of respondents agreed that their greatest fear of old age and illness was becoming a burden on the rest of the family. In fact, respondents feared becoming a burden 5 times more than they feared death itself.
- Senior Home Health Care Is Better Than You. No offense, but when was the last time you were available to care for your parents on-call during all 24 hours of the day? Don’t feel bad, it’s perfectly understandable that your job, children, spouse/partner and other aspects of your life are all wrestling for dominance as you search for balance. This is where senior living services step in. The highest-rated senior living centers provide 24-hour services and supervision, including three meals per day (plus snacks), health care, personal care and social services, transportation assistance, medication management, laundry and general housekeeping. In addition, staff are usually well-equipped to help with daily activities–on average, 4 out of 10 senior residents receive assistance in more than 3 daily activities, including bathing and dressing.
- Most Residents LOVE Their Senior Living Community. In fact, nearly 90% of senior living residents rate their experiences as excellent or close to it, while almost 85% would recommend their own community to another person. In general, only close to half of all seniors find themselves enjoying retirement more than anticipated, so senior home health care has a great deal of involvement in skyrocketing those numbers (although the 3-to-1 female-male ratio may help too!).
Have you or your family members ever had an experience with senior home health care? Do you feel that it is better or worse than living under one roof? Please leave your thoughts and share your comments below.
