Aged care is a complex issue, one that doesn’t have a single solution, making it more difficult to define a solution. With the worry about adequate, quality care in residential facilities in NSW and Australia, more and more individuals and their families are searching for ways to stay at home. And with the flexibility of Home Care Packages today, even if you need 24-hour nursing services or palliative care, it doesn’t mean you need to enter residential care. In fact, you might thrive better at home than in a residential care facility.
Let’s look at the differences between in-home and residential care.
Emergencies
It’s true that there is always someone around in a residential care facility, but that doesn’t mean the care is adequate. In fact, there are no governmental regulations requiring a certain staff-to-resident ratio, which means you could have many residents being covered by a single staff person. In addition, there are no minimum skills level for residential staff workers.
With in-home private care, you can have 24-hour nursing services if needed, which gives you one-to-one care in case of emergency. In addition, home care agencies have qualified nurses available 24/7 you can easily access.
Type of care
In residential care, you get group care which reduces the cost to providers. You still have access to the care you need, but it’s spread out amongst the group to control costs. In a home care situation, you control how much and what type of care you want or need. You can choose a variety of services beyond medical and personal care, depending on your or your family’s financial situation.
Besides putting together a personalized package of care to make home care affordable, your quality of life and level of satisfaction will improve. You’re not tied to a residential facility’s fixed schedule, so you can schedule services to meet your needs.
Enriched living
While it’s true that in residential care, you’re living in a community, statistics prove that many residents are unhappy because they’re not in familiar surroundings. Staying in your own home with the help of a home care agency, you can continue to live an enriched life with plenty of visitors. But you can also add companion care and transportation to social outings to your home care package. This ensures you’re still getting out and about, not shut up in a facility.
When you live at home, you receive guests in comfortable surroundings when it’s convenient to you not during standard visiting hours. You also have personal carers who form a bond with you. When you live in residential care, with a one-to-many caregiver ratio, they have little time to spend creating relationships and having quality conversations.
Final thoughts
Fear of moving to an unknown facility with uncomfortable surroundings and no control over quality of care is keeping more aged Australians in their own homes. And with the availability of 24/7 medical services and more from home care agencies like My Guardian, you can get the exact home care you need. But you stay in the comfort of your own home.
