As people grow old, they naturally cut themselves off from the outside world. Stats demonstrate that more than 80 percent of U.S citizens aging 65 mostly stay at home. Of course, confining oneself to the home could bring various downsides. For example, you may not be able to frequently get in touch with neighbors and enjoy an extended sitting with them. Or you would miss out on the luxury of picking and dropping your grandchildren from school.
However, staying at home does not have to be stressful from the perspective of health. It is because healthcare professionals offer in home health services on a broad scale. The patient’s condition would help you decide what kind of home health services you are going to opt for. For sure, you are not an expert in this regard, you cannot decide the nature of medication on your own. There’s a way through to get the rightful healthcare services. You are supposed to consult a medication professional before going for healthcare services. In this way, you would better be able to decide what services are necessary to avail. That’s how you can manage the budget of entire medication facilitation.
To give you a better idea, we are enlisting home care services a patient can obtain regardless of his/her age:
Nursing Care
The concept of home nursing care is growing exponentially across the world. When an individual’s requirements go beyond day-to-day tasks, nursing care becomes inevitable. Home-based nursing care typically involves Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). The salary for LPN in Georgia is $44,690 annually or $21.48 per hour.
In-home nurses’ primary responsibility is to make sure that the patient strictly abides by the treatment plan. They are considered ideal for treatment plans that include tube feeding, giving injections, wound care, and drawing blood. Apart from that, these nurses possess the expertise to undertake the following jobs:
They ward off all the doubts in the patient’s mind regarding dosage.
They take the patient’s progress into account and suggest critical recommendations to the doctor.
They inspect the medical equipment from time to time. In case any maintenance loophole is found, the nurse takes prompt measures to eliminate it right off the bat. A home nurse also keeps the equipment in a hygienic condition.
They can get necessary training from suggested study material like home care patients blog post from SealSkin and guide other family members. That way, they empower family members to look after patients without relying on an outsider.
Physician Care
Physician care means availing the in-home services of a physician. The service is particularly beneficial if the patient is unable to drop by a doctor regularly. According to a well-documented study, nearly 20 percent of patients get readmitted to the hospital within one month of leaving. Imagine the level of mental and physical stress a patient and family would have to go through during this entire saga. Again, connecting with an in-home physician can save a lot of hassle here.
Many senior adults have difficulty adjusting to unfamiliar hospital environments, not to mention the risk of falls and hospitals’ infections. As a result, their health status continuously declines instead of showing signs of improvement. Hiring the services of an in-house physician means you will bid farewell to these challenges once and for all.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapists come in handy to address issues that obstruct you from engaging in daily activities. They work on agility, strength, and range of motion. The improvement in these areas leads to better performance in everyday errands, namely, bathing, eating, dressing, etc. They also map out personalized stress management strategies.
Home care occupational therapists will have more freedom compared to the one wearing medical scrubs in the hospital setting. Thus, patients are likely to show up with better results in a short time.
Medical Social Services
Like other industries, the healthcare sector is also not entirely free from financial disparity. The phenomenon is rampant in third-world countries. That is where medical social workers roll into action. They provide valuable guidance that eases off the financial burden to a great extent. Furthermore, the job binds them to ensure psychological and social support to patients as well.
Medical social workers mainly specialize in two areas – gerontology and pediatrics. When a patient’s health deteriorates owing to the factors mentioned above, you can rely on a medical social worker for a speedy recovery. Occasionally, social care workers wear the hat of the patients’ case manager.
Companionship Services
Odd as it may sound, loneliness can influence your health for the worse. Studies suggest that lack of socialization increases the rate of heart diseases by a staggering 29 percent. Social isolation can stimulate anxiety and stress, especially among the elderly community, because they lose friends and relatives as they grow older. Companion services eliminate the feeling of being left out and make you feel valuable.
Companion home care services are flexible enough to align with individual needs perfectly. For example, you may hire a companion caregiver from a few hours a day down to few hours a week. Companion caregivers can indulge in basic household chores too.
The Final Verdict
Until recently, access to healthcare facilities was the biggest concern of medical professionals. That said, as home care services continue to strengthen their footing, it seems we are heading in the right direction to combat this challenge. If you want to step into the healthcare profession, specializing in any of the above home care services will guarantee a rewarding career.