With so many adults desiring to age in place in their own homes today, it is important to be able to provide home care services that make this possible. There are new options being developed, and it will be interesting to see how they evolve and are received.
A PBS News Hour article in 2014 offers a clear delineation of services available at that time (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/dont-want-move-hiring-home-help).The two types of home care i.e., home health care and in-home care services which provide non-medical support, are discussed along with considerations for the need for background checks and strategies for monitoring of care providers who go into the Senior’s home.
It can feel very intrusive to have someone in one’s home for extended amounts of time. When my parents began to need help with cooking, cleaning, and driving, they felt that they needed someone for a few hours here and there, but not someone all day every day. Models for this type of delivery of services are being developed, but with the growing numbers of Seniors who will be needing them, we must move quickly to be able to provide services which allow Seniors to age in place with dignity and comfort. One company that offers several types of services to meet differing needs is Right At Home (https://www.rightathome.net/care-scenarios). Programs such as this need to be studied so that we have evidence-based programs that can be duplicated and enlarged to fit the needs of our growing older population. When looking at service delivery models, an emphasis needs to be placed on the quality of the delivery of services as well as the delivery of the quantity that is needed. How we can see this accomplished is a discussion that needs to take place on individual and community levels, as well as at governmental and decision-maker levels.