Why Gather Information on Long Term Care
Every year the cost of care increases so anybody who lacks information on long term care might just wake up one day needing care and wonder where to get the money to pay a home health aide that charges $76 per hour.
This is not a hyperbolic statement but a fact. Seventy-six dollars for a home health aide is even an understatement because the basis for that rate is just $19, which as this is the national median hourly rate of a home health aide who is responsible for providing an elderly or disabled person assistance with the activities of daily living (ADL).
If you research on the cost of care in various U.S. states though, you will realize that home health aide services in most parts of the country cost $20 or more. So, just imagine how much it will cost 30 years from now when the cost of care increases fourfold as predicted by long term care (LTC) experts and financial advisors.
We’re discussing the rate of a home health aide because 90% of the country’s population prefers to receive care at home someday. Nursing homes, however, should not be disregarded because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has an extensive data that shows 40% of the population aged 65 and over will enter a nursing home at one point of their lives.
Nursing homes should not be compared with hospitals, however, because they were not designed to treat illness but to provide rehabilitative therapies apart from custodial care. Long term care has evolved throughout the years but despite this fact, many people still associate it with nursing homes and thus the reason many refuse to entertain it in their minds.
In the past, nursing homes did not have a very good impression as they made headlines for elderly abuse and poorly maintained facilities and beds. These days, many nursing homes can serve as the ideal alternative to chronic hospitals what with their modern medical equipment and professional staff that underwent a series of trainings on handling LTC patients.
Information on Long Term Care
Aside from nursing homes and in-home care, people now also have the option to receive care in a community-based LTC setting such as an assisted living facility and adult day care health center. There are numerous options available but even if you inspect them one by one you will never be able to identify which is right for you if you have not even identified your future health care requirements.
Some people plan for their LTC early because they found out that they have a genetic predisposition to a specific kind of illness. Meanwhile, those individuals whose families never had a history in chronic illness maintain that they will never require LTC.
What people are supposed to understand is that anyone of any age can require LTC, oftentimes when it is least expected. When one figures in a vehicular accident and breaks his spine he will need LTC. When one falls off from a ladder or a low building and breaks his leg or hip he will need LTC. Even babies who were born with special needs are provided with LTC so that goes to show that nobody is an exemption.
Elderly people may comprise the bulk of LTC recipients but if you gather more information on long term care the facts will definitely surprise you.
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