A Proactive Approach to Aging at Home: What Should I Be Considering?

Receiving home care services has never been easier but not all older adult services are alike. What are the reasons you may be looking for home care additives? Maybe it is a recent medical episode such as a fall, management of a chronic illness, or respite care or assistance related to caregiver burnout.

Patients, families, physicians, and hospitals should be working together in care coordination. We suggest looking into resources and top-level services that help establish:

• A heightened quality of care
• Education on warning signs and symptoms leading to early detection/intervention for proactive disease management
• Reduction in length of stay visits or hospital admissions

If you are caregiver or individual looking for resources and are questioning what to think about, here is a list of considerations:

Evaluate your specific needs.

Everyone has individualized needs and requires a custom look at their caregiving requirements. List out your needs:

• Is there a complex medical situation that requires a professional?
• Do you need assistance with monitoring or providing care to your loved one?
• Is transportation to appointments involved or can remote care management be an option?
• Does your loved one require assistance with daily living skills such as bathing, dressing, eating, etc?
• Is housekeeping, meal prep or grocery shopping a needed service?
• Are there fall prevention modifications or needs at play?

Create a discussion outline

Any new service or job has a hiring process. When researching home care agencies, remote monitoring devices or caregiver scheduling tools, create a list of questions or important information needing to be covered in your discussion during your decision-making process. This can include anything from credentialing, to training, service abilities, and company mission and goals as care providers and options for resources.  

 What is your budget?

Caring for a loved one requires an investment of time, emotions, and finances. Outlining your budget can help you in the long run so there are no surprises. Don’t forget to investigate insurance, Medicare or Medicaid as you could be eligible for assistance. And if you have questions, we are here to help evaluate as well. 

 Inform you caregiving team of your aging in place plan

Caring for an aging family member is a common responsibility not taken lightly. It requires the ability to communicate with many members of a loved one’s caregiving team - from other family members, to physicians, and care providers. Aligning with the right organization with dedicated support options and innovative communication platforms, can help alleviate some of the pressures and allow entire caregiving teams being notified as necessary.

Having the right resources in place brings peace of mind and relief to caregiving.

If you are ready to start asking questions and determine which caregiving tools might be helpful to you, speak with a Source of Life Technologies rep today. 

From senior care fall strategies to online engagement and mobile app opportunities, healthcare shouldn’t be reactive - it should be proactive.

Doors have been opened to on-demand healthcare and it turns out the overwhelming majority of patients, physicians, families and therapists want to continue down that path. The decision to modernize your senior care strategies is a big one and doesn’t happen overnight.  Talk to the Source of Life Technologies team for the guidance and direction you need to make the change in your organization or home.