Over six million aging adults annually require some form of long-term care and more than 80 percent of adults 65 years old and older prefer to age at home. In order to prepare, adults need to address two main questions: how to financially plan for home care and when is the right time to start using home care.
A United States of Aging survey found one-third of adults feel financially unprepared to afford long-term care and eight percent have no financial plan for retirement. Many don’t know long-term care is not covered by Medicare, and is only partially covered by Medicaid. It is important to understand the options which include long-term care insurance, life insurance conversions, community care programs, Veterans aid and attendance benefits, taking out a reverse mortgage, and private pay. All of these options provide methods for receiving assistance with long-term care costs.
When asked when is the best time to start using home care, our CEO Julie Kollada says, “the earlier the better. So often we meet with adult children whose parents have already started to decline. Identifying warning signs can help families set up care to keep their parents at home longer.”
The warning signs include: eating habits, hygiene, care of home, safety/mental attitude, mobility and behavior. If a parent or loved one has significant weight loss; experiences a decline in personal or home hygiene; has a change in mood or outlook; develops muscle weakness that makes mobility harder, or presents a change in behavior such as being unusually paranoid or agitated, our team advises contacting a physician and pursuing additional care at home.
To educate yourselves on long-term care and to work with compassionate professionals who care about helping you create a plan that works, visit Open Arms Solutions at http://openarmssolutions.com, visit our Facebook page or call (847) 272-4997.