In-Home Care vs Assisted Living: What You Need to Know
In-Home Care vs Assisted Living: What You Need to Know
Tuesday September 7, 2021
If you’re a caregiver to an aging senior, you may be wondering what the differences are between in-home care and assisted living services. It can be difficult to determine what is appropriate for you or your loved one. In this article, we will highlight the goals of in-home care vs. assisted living, the services offered by both, and tips on how to choose the service that is right for your loved one.
Please also note that you can always talk to an Abramson Care Advisor for free, 24 hours a day, to get objective information from a senior care expert. Call 215-371-3400.
The Goal of In-Home Care
A bit self-explanatory, the goal of in-home care is to allow seniors to stay in the comfort of their own home while a team of professionals monitors their health and assists them with their daily needs. In-home care can range from simple companionship to regular medical care and general daily assistance. A benefit of good in-home care is that having the support of skilled professionals can help seniors recover from hospital visits and, often even more importantly, avoid future hospital visits and trips to the emergency room.
In-Home Care Services
In-home care is similar to having a skilled assistant available to help with daily needs and activities. An in-home care professional can assist with medical or non-medical needs. Non-medical needs include:
Companionship and supervision- General housekeeping (laundry, vacuuming, dusting, wiping counter tops, etc.)
- Medication organization and reminders
- Arranging or providing transportation to medical appointments or personal errands
- Planning and preparing meals
- Respite care for family caregivers
- Dementia support
In-home care providers such as Abramson Senior Care always want to make sure seniors are comfortable, well taken care of, and never straining or struggling to accomplish daily tasks.
In-home medical care services include:
- Wound care
- Medication instruction and management
- Pain management and chronic care management
- General wellness checks, assessments, and monitoring
- Cardiac and orthopedic aftercare
- Continence management
- Anticoagulant management
- Orthopedic care
- Ostomy care
- Patient and family or caregiver education for maximum and ongoing wellness
Our team can also provide in-home care for seniors who suffer from cancer, COPD, diabetes, heart failure, and neurological or neuromuscular disorders.
The Goal of Assisted Living
While in-home care looks to keep a senior in their home for as long as possible, assisted living provides 24/7 support within a facility, for those who can no longer live alone or who need help with daily activities. Assisted living facilities typically allow a resident to live alone or with a spouse in a private space.
Assisted Living Services
It is important to remember when comparing in-home care vs. assisted living facilities that each organization is different and will offer different services and different levels of care. As a general overview, assisted living provides a higher level of long-term care for individuals who are no longer capable of fully living on their own. Facilities can, and in most cases do, offer a variety of services to seniors that include:
- Social interaction and recreational activities (one-on-one or in a group setting)
- Housekeeping (laundry, kitchen and bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, regular general cleanliness checks)
- Medication organization, reminders, and monitoring
- Personal care (dressing, bathing, etc.)
- On-site medical services or transportation to local medical facilities
- 24/7 emergency care
How to Choose Between In-Home Care vs. Assisted Living Facilities
It can feel overwhelming to choosing between in-home care and assisted living for a loved one. There are a variety of factors that should be considered.
How Much Care Does Your Loved One Need?
One of your first considerations in choosing between assisted living vs. home care should be how much care your loved one needs. Is it monthly, weekly, daily, or possibly multiple times a day? Are you the primary caregiver? Are daily tasks, such as dressing and bathing, difficult? This may be a difficult question to answer, and even to consider sincerely. No one wants to think of their loved one as needing around-the-clock support. As the primary caregiver, or as part of a team of family caregivers, it’s possible that you aren’t even sure of how much regular care your loved one requires. We suggest you begin to keep a list of all tasks, medical and non-medical, that your loved one needs assistance with. This will help you itemize the services your loved one needs in order to make a more informed decision. You may find that your loved one only needs weekly companionship and help with household chores, or you may discover that their needs require a team of medical professionals available day and night.
Once you have a sense of how much support your loved one needs, or if you’d like more information on how to get such a sense, you can call Abramson Care Advisors 24/7 to discuss with them. For absolutely no cost, they can help guide you toward the best option for your loved one. Call Care Advisors at 215-371-3400.
Where Would Your Loved One be Most Comfortable?
Your first instinct is probably to say that your loved one will be most comfortable with in-home care vs. an assisted living facility, but that may not necessarily be the case. Even if they only need support for the purpose of light supervision and companionship, those needs may be more easily met in an assisted living community where they would have more opportunities to join in on social activities, make friends, and initiate social engagements without relying on the assistance of others for transportation. Also take into consideration the safety of remaining at home — including navigating stairs and entering and exiting the shower or bath.
However, if your loved one has enough support from family, neighbors, and the like to remain in the comfort of their own home, it’s possible in-home care is the better choice. Familiarity and routine may be the best thing for them. There really is no clear cut right answer — it comes down to the person and their specific situation. If they only require companionship, help with simple housekeeping, and light medical assistance and monitoring, and would prefer to remain in their home, then you know the answer. It could be that they can enjoy in-home care until they need a higher level of support.
If you are interested in in-home care, learn about the services Abramson Senior Care offers to the local community. Abramson Senior Care requires that all home care aides be certified. Our team includes highly skilled registered nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. Abramson offers flexible services to provide as little or as much support as your loved one needs. See if your loved one qualifies for assisted living services here.
As mentioned, if you’d like to receive objective advice at any time of day, call our Care Advisors at 215-371-3400.
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