Levels of Home Health Care

How to Identify the Need for Home Health Care
And, Important Information on the Types of
Professional Health Care Providers

As you age, your health care needs will change. Your home situation should also change to accommodate your new needs. We all age at different rates and our physical and mental health conditions affect our future whether we like it or not. Your attitude towards aging will make a big difference in how you actually experience your later years. Keep a positive and active mindset and you will be way ahead of your peers in how much enjoyment you get from your life.

One example of different mindsets might be the following:

One person who suffers a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair is anxious to resume their life by returning to their home. He or she sees the benefits and the pluses of any changes made to their home as enhancing their ability to be as independent as possible.

Another individual has a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair and shuns the benefits of these home conveniences because he or she perceives the equipment and adaptations are for individuals that are “worse off” than they are.

A third individual has a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair and completely rejects all the equipment. They can see and understand the benefits of any necessary equipment and enhancements but to accept these things translates into personal defeat.

Common sense tells us we should expect at some time in the future we will need more home health care, some of us even total care. It is important we prepare ourselves and keep our mindsets positive and geared to seeing and enjoying all the benefits of modern equipment and home enhancements because they are truly blessings.

Safety and Wellness Are the First Goals of Home Health Care

Take the time now to educate yourself if you are dealing with your own health care or that of aging parents of loved ones. Your top priority is to prepare for the unexpected. If you have not yet read the Planning Ahead Section, you should go read that section first and then return here.

No one likes to lose control over their life. Many fear becoming a burden, becoming dependent on others, or becoming helpless. Many aging adults fight aging and needing help. You will almost certainly face resistance and resentment if you try to take over, if you will, before they are ready. It is a difficult situation at best but you must remember your parents are adults and ultimately responsible for their own lives and their own home health care.

It is crucial to find ways to reinforce to the aging adult a sense of control and make sure they are safe and comfortable in their home environment.

Here Are 10 Warning Signs the Aging Adult May Need Help:

• Exhibiting forgetfulness - Forgetting to open mail, letting the newspapers pile up without reading them, not reordering medications, not taking medications, or missing important appointments.
• Financial mismanagement – Hiding money, not paying bills, giving away money to multiple charities, and paying bills multiple times.
• Excessive purchases from the TV or Internet - Calling for every free offer and having information sent to the house, repeat purchases of the same product, multiple magazine orders.
• Neglecting personal hygiene - Wearing the same clothes over and over, not bathing or shaving, neglecting nails and teeth.
• The home becomes cluttered and disorganized - Some people begin to hoard things – scraps of paper, canned goods, etc.
• Changes in behavior - Making repeated phone calls at all times of the day and night. Some individuals call the police frequently. Becoming withdrawn or boisterous, mistrusting of others, believing everyone is out to take their money or do them some sort of harm, they may become intermittently angry or agitated easily at times.
• Changes in eating habits – Weight loss and a decrease in appetite, loss of interest in food.
• Changes in social habits - Has there been a decrease in attending church, or bridge or any activities that were previously important.
• Changes in relationships with family or friends - Have others expressed a concern about something being different or not the same about the aging adult.
• Physical changes - Is there an increase in falls, a misuse of alcohol or prescription drugs, any noticeable bruising or cuts

The 10 Warning Signs can be used to determine if home health care is necessary for yourself or a loved one. But, it is very important to understand the differences in the levels of health care and the professional health care providers who can deliver exactly what you need.