Living at home during the retirement years seems to be the wish of 85 – 90 percent of seniors. This is understandable, since they have built their lives there. Most don’t want to relocate into a potentially impersonal senior-home.
The cost of living in a retirement home compared to receiving in home care is dramatically different. In fact, prices have risen steadily since the mid 2000’s. The average price of these senior-centers, per year, is around $75,000, according to the Genworth 2011 Cost of Care Survey. This is a drastic increase from $60,000, in 2005.
When you consider the price of in-home care, at an average of about $25/hour, aging seems a lot easier. The cost of home health care services has remained relatively flat. This is a breath of fresh air for struggling seniors.
Home health care services
In the beginning, you probably won’t need constant care. Hosting a home health care service for just a few hours a week is considerably cheaper than a senior living facility. As the situation changes, you can slowly increase the amount of hours your loved one is cared for. Often times, just a few visits a week are needed for the first couple of years of help. Risk management is the most popular initial service. This is done to minimize the risk of injury or unhealthy living. This might mean having someone come in to do the laundry, do the dishes, and climb a ladder to change a light bulb.
Medical equipment and technology
One of the easiest ways to begin care is to set up personal emergency response systems, which you may see on TV commercials. Products like Life Alert or motion-sensing devices are priced very reasonably and can help tremendously.
Pat Ryan
Patrick is a Senior home health care consultant and principal at A Gentle Touch Senior Home & Health Care Inc.. Patrick has been in service to the long Island business community since 1985. Through a strong network of elder care and elder-care-related professionals Patrick uses a Best of Breed approach to his senior care services. He takes great pride in providing a single source solution for all of your senior care needs.
At a time when life comes at you hard and fast we take great care to guide you well and provide a total home care solution.