Aging at Home is an Alternative to a Nursing Home

According to forbes.com, geriatric care facilities are moving away from providing long
term care beds and increasing the number of rehabilitative beds they offer. This is due
to financial reasons, as Medicare pays $500 to $600 per day for a rehabilitative bed,
while Medicaid pays only $125 per day for a long term care bed. With this decline in the
availability of long term care beds, seniors are likely to find it increasingly difficult to
locate space in high quality, yet affordable, facilities across the country. While long term
care beds are sometimes difficult to locate, high quality in home services are easy to
coordinate with Salus’ One Call program. Through this program, a senior simply makes
one call to our agency. A trained staff member then meets with the client and assesses
their needs, and, in a collaborative effort with the client, family members and other
medical professionals, an appropriate plan of care is put in place.
In addition to the decreased availability of long term care beds, seniors are expressing a
preference to age in place. AARP surveys show that approximately nine out of ten
seniors have a stated desire to remain in their homes. This is likely due to an
attachment to the home, as well as a preference to remain with friends and family in the
senior’s community. Aging in place provides for comfortable surroundings, and it means
that a senior does not have to leave behind the things he is familiar with for facility life.

The Benefits of In Home Health Care

Agin in place with In home health care addresses the problems seniors are facing when
making the decision to age in place versus entering a facility. Home care options are
often less expensive than a permanent facility stay that, according to the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, averages approximately $6,500 per month.
At Salus, we understand that this monthly cost is sometimes impossible to meet when a
senior is facing a fixed income and limited assets. When a senior or family member
contacts one of our offices, services are catered to the individual needs of that client. A
senior who only needs a few hours of help a day to get dressed, take a bath and
prepare a meal pays for only a few hours of help, and this can equate to thousands of
dollars of savings versus nursing home placement.

Finally, meeting a senior’s desire to age in place allows for decreased healing time,
increased mental health status, increased feelings of dignity and a higher quality of life
throughout the geriatric years. While aging in place is not always safe without home
care services, when these services are put in place, the senior often can remain at
home for a longer period of time and enjoy all of these benefits.

There are many benefits to choosing in home care for a senior versus nursing home
placement. The cost savings, increased feelings of independence and dignity and
increased access to necessary services versus trying to locate a long term care bed are
but a few.