Everybody likes to stay in their own home, but eventually there comes a time when certain daily tasks become too difficult to do them all on your own. Thankfully, there’s a middle ground between total independence and living in a nursing home. With in-home care, seniors can get exactly the amount of help they need while maintaining their continuity of life. Here are some – though by no means all! – of the top benefits of in-home care.
Familiarity of Surroundings
The comfort of home is not something that should be overlooked. Being able to remain in a familiar place as one deals with the challenges and joys of getting older is very important to a senior’s wellbeing. One reason is purely practical – if you’ve lived in a house for years you instinctively know not only where things are, but also how to navigate around to avoid falling on any unexpectedly slippery surfaces or uneven floors, etc.
Emotional Attachment
Most people naturally also have a strong emotional attachment to the home they’ve made, and being able to remain there while still getting all the care they need is exceptionally important for their mental health. Aging is not always easy, but facing those challenges in a comforting and familiar location is extremely helpful.
Continuity for Family
Familiarity of location is most important for the person actually living there, it’s true, but many families also find it very comforting to have their older relatives receive care in an environment that they are already used to visiting. When visiting, the familiar surroundings help to keep interactions natural, especially with younger visitors like grandchildren who may be made uncomfortable by the unusual sights and sounds of a nursing home. This in turn helps to maintain a sense of dignity, as conversations between the young and old can be more genuine and unstilted.
The Right Amount of Help
With in-home care, seniors can receive necessary help with certain daily tasks while retaining a valuable sense of independence by being in their own home. For example, some seniors might need help preparing meals but be perfectly capable of, say, tending to their garden in the backyard. Remaining at home allows them not only to hold on to that garden but to keep their dignity as well, as a good in-home care specialist will know when help is needed and when it is unnecessary or maybe insulting.
Person-to-Person Care
In-home care provides for seniors a caretaker who is, while they’re there, completely dedicated to just that one person. This kind of one-on-one contact is extremely valuable, and simply not possible in a busy nursing home. Many people even find that their in-home caregiver becomes a valued friend and companion.
There are many more perks to in-home care, but these are a few of the most important ones. The benefits of being able to remain in a familiar, comforting environment, and receiving adequate help while retaining a strong sense of independence, are innumerable.