When people age, there is an increased need for different types of long term care. If you want to provide these by admitting the elderly person in the hospital or any other care specialty facility such as a nursing home then the stupendous rise in price will surely become the most significant point of bother for you.
The ideal setting for providing long term health care is your home itself. This will not only keep the cost of such long term health care low but along with it, there will be a lot of other benefits that you as well as the receiver of health care will enjoy. A few of these advantages are:
- The patient will get better and undivided attention by the caregiver
- The outcome will be better, more effective and safer
- The patient will be happy and feel wanted to be at home, their favorite place and most importantly
- There will be an increased level of trust between the patient and the caregiver that will provide better health care results.
However, when it comes to providing long term care to elderlies it seems to be a challenging situation more often than not.
Base on the empirical data
It may be a bit difficult to find the answers to the questions as to whether you should go with home health care or hospitalize the patient. Well, if you base your decision and choice on a few specific empirical data, things will seem to be much simpler to you.
- According to research, it is found that more than 97% of people are most commonly found to be in need of a long term care service as they age during their lifetime and
- More than 3% of these aging people experience sudden deaths and this figure does not precede the need for a long term home care.
These figures may not help you much in making your choice for long term home care or long term hospitalization but if you explore some of the more reliable data you will be able to weigh the odds as well as the costs of long term care in a home setting as well as in a dedicated care facility.
Knowing about a few characteristics
You will need to know about a few specific characteristics that may influence your decision for a long term care need. It is more likely that the most important takeaway here will also become the real problem that may reasonably impact the likelihood of a long term health care for anyone.
- Typically, the need for long term care is a possibility for everyone and it should be carefully planned out. This will make sure that the definite probability with which this care is provided by the health caregivers is less important.
- With that being said, it is also required to conduct more rigorous research on the subject and the need for long term care at home setting or anywhere, from an individual nurse or any home care agency such as com or others and weigh it with the incidence and cost of such care.
This should usually be done on a forward-looking basis.
Analyzing the needs of individuals
In order to relate the cost and incidence of long term care for the cohort of people turning 65 years, you will need to consider a few study reports that will provide you with more valuable and beneficial estimates that will help you in your forward-looking decision making regarding long term care needs for these senior citizens.
According to these survey reports and study results, it is estimated that:
- 58% of men aged 65 and older will need long term care at some point in their lives
- The same figure is 79% of women of the same age
- The average duration for such home care is found to be 2.2 years for men and
- On the other hand, the average length of care for women was found to be 3.7 years.
A few other the other reports also suggested that 38% men and 63% women at this age will need such care for at least a year and more than 11% of men and nearly 28% of women will need such care for at least 5 years, if not more.
About the specific values
However, these figures can confuse you even more while making your choice. So, what is the best approach that you should follow? Well, it is best not to worry too much about the specific values for these numbers. This is because you will come across different numbers in different studies on this same subject. This difference may be the results of the different issues faced during making these studies.
It is enough for you to know that all these numbers have changed certainly and significantly to arrive at the current situation of today regarding the long term care needs of the 65-year-olds.
Consider the more general point for this matter that says that a large number of retirees will need long term care support. The probability of such an incidence during their lifetime is fairly large which warrants for some careful planning.
Considering the women
According to the reviews and research, the long term care needs for women are more than men. This is due to a number of reasons.
- Women live longer than men
- They are more expected to serve as a long term caregiver for men in their lives
- They are more likely to be alone or widowed by the time they need such care for themselves and
- They may have much fewer financial assets left when they reach this stage.
Coming to the cost factor for long term care, it may differ due to geographic region, reasons for care as well as the type of services and facility used.
Therefore, it is important that you focus on the median values when you relate to cost and incidence of long term care in the home or in a different setting. This will help you to make the right choice in the end.
