Will You Or A Loved One Need Long-Term Care One Day?

You may feel great today. On the other hand, maybe you are starting to sense the affects of ageing creeping up on you. Either way, you may not be thinking about something like Long-Term care. Not today, not for yourself. Very few people like to talk about it let alone plan for it. Yet we all should give our possible need for Long-Term care serious consideration. Why?

What is Long-Term Care?

Long-Term Care: Services that include medical and non-medical care for people with a chronic illness or disability. Long-term care helps meet health or personal needs. Most long-term care services assists people with Activities of Daily Living, such as dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. Long-term care can be provided at home, in the community, or in a facility. For purposes of Medicaid eligibility and payment, long-term care services are those provided to an individual who requires a level of care equivalent to that received in a nursing facility. Source: Glossary - Longtermcare.gov

Here is the reality - some facts that should make us think hard about our future and whether we will need someone some day to care for us or a loved one – Long-Term Care.

1. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a person turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of Long-Term Care services and supports in their later years. While one-third of today’s 65 year-olds may never need Long-Term Care support, at least 20 percent will need it for longer than 5 years. And, Women on average will need care longer, 3.7 years compared to men at 2.2 years.*
   
   
2. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 36 percent of people age 65 and older reported some type of disability, be it vision or hearing loss, cognition problems, difficulties moving around, or restrictions when it comes to self-care or independence, in 2014.
   
   
3. Nearly 40% of people age 65 and older have difficulties with the activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, getting out of bed, getting around inside one’s home or building, or leaving one’s home or building. Currently, about one in five older people that have these types of difficulties report that they need more help than they receive (Desai et al. 2001; Spillman 2013).
   
   
4. Diseases that impair our ability to care for ourselves are on the rise. For example, one in nine people age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s disease according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
   
   
5. When older people who need assistance do not get enough help, terrible things can happen, including falls, burns, inadequate nutrition, missed physician appointments, depression, hospitalization and emergency room use.

These are just 5 reasons why all of us should be thinking about what we will do if and when we or a loved one needs Long-Term Care. We should feel compelled to give it serious thought.

Senior Home Search is a website designed to help you in your search for Senior Home Care facilities near you, as well as get up to date information about Assisted Living and Senior Homes in your area.

Our website is filled with valuable and detailed information about such senior living facilities and gives you contact information so you can talk directly with the staff at these homes.

Please use this site and tell your friends about it. It is free and it is easy to find just what you are looking for, Assisted Living and Senior Home information. Good luck to all in your search.

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* SOURCE: Find Your Path Forward - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services