Living with and taking care of loved ones can be a full-time job, often requiring overtime even. While it makes sense to live with and care for your loved ones yourself the amount of work required always takes more of a toll than expected. Maybe things have been going great living together and taking care of your loved ones for a long time and as they continue to age the care, they require increases. You were likely doing everything you could already to keep them happy and comfortable and now you are faced with a whole new dilemma. We all want to keep our loved ones close and ensure they are getting the highest level of care possible. For this reason, is very common to live with aging loved ones in order to be able to better serve their needs. This may work out for some people, though most will find the ever-increasing levels of care and time commitments required are beyond their ability to give. When this happens families typically move quickly to secure alternative housing or care for their loved ones. Depending on the level of care they require it may be best for them to go to an assisted living or nursing home. If you and they are dead set on staying home and aging in place however, then in-home care may be the option for you. In-home care companies will send licensed and trained caregivers to your own home in order to take some of the load from you or maybe even relieve you of it entirely. The level of care and care hours are flexible and vary on a case to case basis. This is why you may hire someone to come in for a couple of hours in the morning to help with a morning routine or you may need someone there for 8 hours to see your loved ones throughout the entire day until you are able to return. In-home care offers everything from companionship to hands-on assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing and grooming. In the state of Washington however, there is a distinction between in-home care and in-home health care. If you require more than assistance with ADLs such as medication administration or wound care, then you will need in-home health care. Whether either option will work for you is your decision however, and research is always the first step in making a sound decision. To find out more about why in-home care may be able to help and to hear the stories of others who find themselves in a similar situation check out the link below.
