What is Long Term Care?


To Buy or Not to Buy

  • Long-term care includes a wide range of services provided to people who have lost the ability to care for themselves.
  • The loss can be caused by medical reasons, cognitive impairment or in many cases simply a result of the aging process.

Long-Term Care Services Include:

Primary care administered in the home by family members or friends, assisted by professional care givers. There are two types of Home Health Care providers:

1. Personal Caregivers: Home Health Aides, Personal Care Assistants, and Certified Nursing Assistants. Home Health Aides and Personal Care Assistants help with things like cooking, cleaning, laundry and errands. Certified Nursing Assistants provide most of the actual hands-on care like: bathing dressing and activities where actual physical assistance is required.

2. Professional Caregivers include people such as Registered Nurses, Physical Therapists, Speech Therapists and Occupational Therapists. These skilled professionals come in, provide a service and then leave, whereas the personal caregiver's role is to assist the patient for usually a four to eight hour shift.

Community Care is designed to help a primary caregiver receive a break from the care-giving process.

1. Adult Day Care - Adult Day Care supports frail, impaired or otherwise disabled adults who can benefit from care in a group setting, outside the home. Further, Adult Day Care allows the caregiver to take a break and go to work every day, or run errands like shopping, banking etc.

2. Respite Care - Respite Care is the supervision and care of persons with deficiencies in ADLs or who are severely cognitively impaired. It is provided when a family member or other caregiver who normally provides long-term care services on a regular basis takes a short-term leave or rest from their care-giving responsibilities.

These types of care can relieve the physical and emotional stress associated with the care-giving process.

Assisted Living Facilities are becoming the most popular form of care because they allow the person needing care to maintain his or her independence and freedom as long as possible. They are generally state-licensed facilities that have staff available 24 hours-a-day to provide services sufficient to support the residents of the facility. They provide three meals a day and accommodate special dietary needs. They even have either a doctor or registered nurse on duty around the clock for emergency situations.

Provide 24 hour skilled, intermediate or custodial care provided by licensed professional caregivers.




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