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When Chronic Care Is Needed There Are Numerous Options Available

By Cathy Mercer


Chronic care, also referred to as long-term healthcare, involves numerous services that center on offering help to individuals with illnesses or disabilities of a chronic nature. A patient may only need mild assistance, or the person may be entirely incapacitated. Individuals of all ages can be affected by such handicaps, but many who need help of this type are elderly.

By 2014, it is predicted that over 12 million older Americans will require the aforementioned assistance. For this reason, advance planning is imperative if it appears that one will eventually need help of this type. Discussing long-term healthcare plans with one's family is always a wise course of action for any individual, especially senior citizens. This way, the person's wishes will be carried out when and if he or she becomes disabled or incapacitated.

Services of this kind can be acquired even if the person is still residing at home. Volunteers, employees from home healthcare agencies, or a combination of both alternatives can often be utilized in order to allow the person to maintain his or her independence for longer period of time than if no assistance was given. In other cases, a long-term care facility is the only realistic option.

Adult day care is an option for certain individuals with disabilities or diseases that make it dangerous for them to stay at home unsupervised. As its name implies, when one enrolls in adult day care, he or she is supervised throughout the day, but can return to his or her dwelling when other individuals are present to provide assistance when required. Such organizations usually only take a low number of clients at one time, and therefore each individual has an adequate amount of supervision.

Residential facilities or group homes are other options one has when it is no longer realistic to live independently. Residents of such establishments are typically given assistance with the activities of daily living, and if a nurse is on staff, the administration of medications. Individuals are usually on staff twenty-four hours a day to help residents of such homes.

A similar option to the one outlined above is an assisted living establishment. The latter also provide personal care twenty-four hours a day, but this help is limited to moderate assistance. Those who choose to dwell at such an establishment must be able to move and walk and without help.

The most appropriate choice for individuals who cannot live in one of the aforementioned communities safely is a skilled nursing facility. Also referred to as a nursing home, an establishment of this type offers a broad range of medical services, including various treatments and medication administration. Registered nurses are on staff continuously, and those living there are given the option of participating in group activities if their situation allows.

Regarding payment for services of this type, clients have various alternatives in most instances. For example, if the person has reached the appropriate age, he or she may qualify for Medicare. The person may also have a medical insurance policy that includes long-term care benefits. In some instances, services of this kind are paid for by the patient's family, which is referred to as private-pay. Those in need of chronic care should consider all their alternatives before a final decision is made.




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