Home Care | Senior Care | Elder Care | Right at Home : November 2019

When the End is near

Providing care for your adult parent during their retirement years can be a demanding job. And the job continues to become more demanding as your parent gets older and his or her health declines. You will have to make more and more difficult decisions as the end grows closer and many of them you will make without the consultation your elderly parent if his mental abilities have slipped away due to the affects of aging.

If the senior citizen you are caring for is dealing with a terminal illness that lingers, those demands will become virtually overwhelming. When the end is near like this, your need for assistance will become acute. This is no time to try to be stoic. Dealing with a dying senior citizen is something that is usually outside of the abilities of caregiver children.

If you see that time coming, now is the time to make arrangements for additional help. If funds are in his estate, you can arrange for in-home nursing care. These outstanding organizations can be with the senior citizen for as many hours as day as you need them to be and provide skilled medical care to minister to the demands of your parent's terminal disease.

But once your doctor confirms that your parent is terminally ill, waste no time in getting hospice involved. This is a federally sponsored program that is part of Medicare and they are trained specifically in dealing with death and the dying with skilled care, equipment and medications that will cost your parent nothing and take a huge amount of stress off of you. Hospice has been a lifesaver for many a weary caregiver who is worn out from months or years of care giving and is incapable of dealing with the extra demands of the patient's final months of life.

But there is an adjustment you as caregiver will have to make as the nursing care personnel and hospice begin to surround your parent more and more in preparation for his or her final days. You have been so intensely involved with every aspect of your parent's needs. And you have done a good job of getting them this far. But now you have to step away and let these skilled professional caregivers provide the comfort and medical care that only they can give.

This may be difficult because your parent will still call for you to be nearby especially during these weeks. This is a time to bring in clergy, and to alert your siblings who may have to travel to be by mom's bedside in her final days. While there will be tears, if they can be with her a little bit before the final moment comes, that is a closure for the family that is tremendously valuable. And it helps your aging parent to have her children close to her as she approaches her final transition to another life.

Hospice will help you go through the transition in your own mind and heart to accept that the passing is near. It will take some emotional courage to begin preparing for the funeral even though your parent is still with you. But this can also be a bittersweet time of sharing because if your parent accepts what is to come, she can have some say into what she wants to have happen at the funeral and about other final arrangements.

Perhaps the strangest transition that you alone as the primary caregiver will go through will happen in the days just after the passing. There is always a shock when your loved one dies even if it was very much anticipated. But you will go through another drastic set of emotions that can only be described as "separation anxiety".

When you get that news that your parent has passed, you will suddenly feel the lifting of a burden that may have been on you for months or years. You no longer have to worry about your parent any more. You don't have to go there, take care of her food or medicine and comfort her any more. The lifting of that pressure can be liberating and disorienting for you. You will feel strange throughout the funeral and the family times as well. But keep these feelings in your heart as well because they will be sensations that only you and others who have been primary caregivers will ever be able to understand. 743

What to look for in a companion for at home care in palm beach gardens

Helping others has always been a way of feeling human. We all need company to keep us in good spirits, happy, and even sane! And that’s whether we find it in family, friends, or pets. So when the time comes that being by ourselves won’t be easy, we may need the support of companion care services to make our lives more manageable.

Companion care services are primarily meant to provide emotional support and companionship for seniors who are generally healthy. Nevertheless, a care companion needs to have a range of non-medical services mastered, so as to assist seniors and don't fall short. Housekeeping, help with daily activities, and medication reminders can be part of the job of a care companion.

The role of companion care is based on the needs a senior might have, which can be applied at home or in assisted living situations; and finding the right person to do it can be hard sometimes. What do you need to look for in a companion for at home care in palm beach gardens? Here are the main things to look for when doing so.

Professional Structure

Seniors home care providers need to be professionals, as what they’re going to do is a companionship service and personal care services. Whenever you’re about to hire a companion, you need to check out the programs they offer, which sometimes can be comprehensive and according to your liking, but also they might not. It is important to check the background on the type of services given by these care providers.

Trained and certified

Being able to trust someone requires official licenses and certificates. When looking for a home care companion you need to ask for previous training and educational courses. If you’re looking for quality services, this should be the main focus before hiring a person that’s going to be with a senior to help them almost every day; and besides, they need to get along. Your senior care provider needs to score highly in all their training background, and also their personal background.

Service availability

In most cases, senior home care providers have to be ready for any immediate situations that may arise. Having someone available at any time of the day can be vital for some seniors, so if this turns out to be the case, you should always look for a person with 24/7 availability.

Affordable but quality service

Yes, caretakers services can be expensive, but if you’re willing to hire a professional, then you should look for quality as well. If you end up paying more than expected but know the services provided are impeccable, then you’ll know it’s worth it; however, is the caretaker providing all that he or she promised? If the answer is no, then you might consider looking for someone else.

Highly recommended

The finest healthcare provider will be recommended and shared by a lot of people. So when asking around for recommendations you might do a bit of research on the internet and find out who has the best reviews and so on. Look for many candidates and choose the best.

What are the benefits of having a caretaker?

On a personal level, the benefits manifest in many ways; being able to have friends and companions enables seniors to talk about what moves them, to express grief, and in general, to solve problems more easily. If a senior can rely on their companionship, then that person can be considered as a quality companion.

Care companions exist to provide emotional support, improve the quality of life of the senior, and even add physical care. So for this to be achieved, the companionship service should be, above all, a service that comes naturally. Honesty and patience might be the two main elements to consider in the individual that’s about to work as a care companion at home.

Make sure to contact a home care company with high-rating among their clients, so you can be fully satisfied.

Media Contact

Company Name: Right at Home

Contact Person: Judy Gropper

Phone: +1 561-282-6106

Address:4440 PGA Boulevard Suite 600

City: Palm Beach Gardens

State: FL

Country: United States

Website: rightathome.net/palm-beach-gardens

How Medicare can help with senior Health Care and what a Home Care Agency in Palm Beach Gardens Can Do For You

Home health care is a system many people in their senior years come to need, as treating illness or injuries at home is a great benefit, and seniors should be able to enjoy it. The services covered by Medicare’s home health, most of the time, include intermittent skilled nursing care, home health aid, and even therapy—depending on the circumstances.

Medicare can help with senior health care, but it will definitely not cover it all. If you’ve been having doubts about medicare and its relationship with home health care, then keep reading, as we have you all the basics you should know about it, mainly the description of home health care services and how to qualify for it.

When does Medicare cover in-home health care?

Medicare, in general terms, is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, for younger people that have disabilities, and for people with End-Stage Renal Disease, which means that their kidney failure requires dialysis or a transplant. Medicare is composed of three different parts that cover specific services: Medicare Part A (hospital insurance), Medicare Part B (medical insurance) and Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage)

Medicare covers in home health care if:

You are homebound (meaning that is almost impossible for you to leave your home)
Skilled nursing services or skilled therapy care is needed on an intermittent basis (at least once every 60 days or once a day for up to three weeks.
You have a face-to-face meeting—office visit, hospital visit, video conferencing etc.— with a doctor within the 90 days before you start a home health care process, or the 30 days after receiving the home care.
Your doctor signs you a home health certification confirming you are homebound and need skilled care through a certification that states that your doctor approved a plan of care for you.
Your doctor should review and certify your home health care plan every 60 days.
If you receive care from a Medicare health agency (certified)

How do I qualify for senior home health care?

Your regular doctor must certify you as homebound, a person who has difficulty leaving home and that can't make it to the doctor very often. In addition, you need to be under one or more aforementioned covered services to qualify, for example, you must have both Part A and Part B Medicare service—click here to be eligible. Once you manage to get Medicare Advantage you will get other health benefits, such as drug coverage and dental care. In the meantime, if you require home health care services more than eight hours a day or seven days per week, then have in mind that you'll have to pay out of pocket.

Receiving home health care Medicare benefits will require you to receive home health care Medicare benefits from qualified health professionals.

When aren't you allowed to receive a Medicare home health plan?

It’s simple: you’re not allowed to receive Medicare home health coverage if the only thing you need is occupational therapy. Even so, if you manage to qualify for home health care under another basis, you will get occupational therapy services, and if needed, once your home health program ends, you can continue receiving Medicare-covered occupational therapy.

What is not included in senior home health care?

Medicare has limits, and although they’re not many, it is important you understand that home health care does not include 14 hour home care, meal delivery services, and homemaking or housekeeping services. Also, Medicare may not pay for personal or custodial care, meaning that daily living activities such as bathing, eating, toileting, dressing, and others, could not be included. In these cases, you can always contact private home care companies, such as Right at Home, which offer services that Medicare doesn’t, where the aforementioned options of custodial care could be at your reach.

What happens if Medicare doesn’t cover my home health care needs?

If you ever feel like Medicare isn’t covering all your home health needs, then you can try contacting your Medicaid program, and they will be able to help you and offer you other options. If this doesn't work, then you can switch to the Medicare Advantage plan, where you can find a customized plan that can cover more services. Or, just get help from a home care agency in Palm Beach Gardens.

With its pros and cons, Medicare turns out to be a great option for seniors to keep enjoying a healthy life, home health care services can be a life-changer for anyone. Want to learn more details about Medicare, click here, or call the Medicare free line 1-800 MEDICARE.