Home and Hearth Caregivers Explains the Benefits of In-Home Care
“There’s no place like home…”
That sentiment speaks to seniors even more than it did to Dorothy when she clicked those ruby red shoes together and dreamed of leaving the Land of Oz behind. Given the options, an overwhelming majority of seniors – as many as 90% of them, according to a recent AARP report – prefer to age at home over a move to an assisted living or nursing facility.
The reasons are as varied as the individual seniors themselves, but at the heart of the matter, it all comes down to comfort and familiarity. After all, our homes are where we’ve created a lifetime of memories with those who are most precious to us, and the sense of security and peace those memories evoke can make the thought of moving heartbreaking. Not only that, but the stigmas of lost independence and institutionalization associated with nursing home care makes the idea of in-home care even more appealing.
At Home & Hearth Caregivers, we have the unique opportunity to walk beside seniors and their families who choose in-home care, and offer the following tips to help your senior loved one remain safely at home:
- Make sure there’s a support system in place. Friends, extended family, and neighbors are often more than willing to pitch in and help with tasks around the home, such as taking care of yardwork and housework, shopping and running errands, or accompanying the senior to appointments and outings. Hiring a professional in-home care agency, such as Home & Hearth Caregivers, provides these services and more, ensuring that care is seamless, and that respite is available to avoid family caregiver burnout.
- Make sure the home environment is safe. In particular, it’s crucial to perform a safety assessment of the home and make necessary modifications to reduce fall risks. Adding grab bars near the toilet and tub, removing throw rugs, low furniture and other obstacles in walking paths, and making sure handrails on stairs are sturdy is a good start. Home & Hearth Caregivers offers a complimentary home safety evaluation; just call us to schedule one for your loved one.
- Make the most of technology. There’s never been a better time, technologically speaking, for seniors to remain safely at home. Today’s seniors have access to medication monitoring devices to ensure prescriptions are taken at the correct times and doses, emergency call buttons to instantly access help if needed, and so much more.
The professional in-home care experts at Home & Hearth Caregivers would love to partner with you to keep your senior loved one safe and thriving in the comfort of home, and avoid the cost and emotional upheaval of a move to a nursing home. We’re helping seniors throughout Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will and the surrounding Illinois counties, and are here for you. Just give us a call at your convenience at 800-349-0663 to learn more!