Make Long Term Care Less Complicated
Long term care is a complicated subject but ironically, planning it is very simple especially if you are equipped with complete long term care information.
If you are wondering where you are supposed to find helpful pieces of information which are relevant to long term care (LTC), you don’t have to look very far. Drive around your neighborhood or in the city where you live and along the way you’ll manage to collect information from all types of LTC facilities such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health care agencies, adult day health care centers, continuing-care retirement communities, and many others.
Each of these facilities offers specialized care for a specific set of individuals. For example, a nursing home concentrates on the needs of people who require medically necessary care. These are people who are either chronically ill or injured or disabled and thus they require 24-hour care, assistance and monitoring.
When searching for a qualified nursing home, base your search on the ratings given by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for it’s the responsibility of this federal agency to ensure quality LTC services in nursing homes.
Home health care agencies, on the other hand, house a professional staff which provides in-home care services. People who are not necessarily sick but experiencing functional limitations that hinder them from performing their activities of daily living (ADL) like bathing, dressing, eating, continence, toileting, and transferring are advised to receive in-home care. Home health care agencies offer home health aides and personal care assistants to assist these people with their day-to-day needs at home.
Meanwhile, an assisted living facility offers services that are similar to what in-home care recipients are receiving except that individuals residing in this kind of LTC facility are not totally helpless.
More Sources for Long Term Care Information
Government agencies and personnel that are responsible for overseeing the health care needs of senior citizens and the disabled can also supply you with substantial information.
The LTC Ombudsman in your state of residence, for instance, can recommend the best nursing homes and assisted living facilities as it regularly conducts inspection in various LTC facilities to ensure residents of quality services.
Area Agencies on Aging offer more than just mere information. In compliance with the federal Older Americans Act of 1965 they help people 60 years old and older work out a system of living which promotes their independence despite their age and health condition. Should they need access to advance care someday these agencies can offer the best recommendation.
You have to note that familiarizing yourself with different LTC setting in your area will only satisfy one aspect of your plan which is the overview of available LTC services and their estimated cost.
All the effort that you put in gathering long term care information will turn futile if you cannot point out your future health care needs. Many people think this is the most difficult phase of LTC planning when, in fact, it is the easiest and actually the first that needs to be accomplished. An individual only has to see his doctor to find out what he could possibly need in the future health care-wise.
So, have you identified your future health care needs?
Still looking for free long term care quote? We can provide you with free quotes from reliable carriers and aside from that we can also give you an idea about your long term care insurance costs.
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