I have been caring for my Mom in her home for the last 3 years. I can see that she will need more attention in the near future. Long-term care facilities really to not meet her needs...and even the best institutions do not offer customized care (even though they are charging "customized" prices.) I feel that if we hired our own caregivers we would have more control over and be able to monitor the quality of care. I know it would be expensive, but I figure that the average nursing home in our area costs $8000./mo. Seems like that would buy a lot more "personalized" care.
So I am wondering if anyone has tried using solely in-home care either in your parent's home or your own home. What are the pros and cons?
I recently got a little taste of what an institution would be like if Mom ever need one. She went to rehab for 2 weeks - but I found that I was going out there nearly every day for one thing or another. As others have mentioned about facilities: there is absolutely no privacy...doors are left wide open and really anyone from the outside could walk right in. They put her in adult diapers..."just in case." This was a highly rated facility and overall I thought she received good care, but I know that it would make me sad seeing her "cooped up" in one room all day, waiting for someone to come and get her - such a loss of dignity. The staff members were great for the most part, but mistakes were made and I am glad that I was over there a lot.
I began to think that in-home care offers more individualized care, even though you are paying out of pocket for the services. I realize that it takes a great deal of time and planning, but it can't be worse than running over to the rehab all the time. And I worried about her every minute she was there.
So, when the time comes, I am going to try in-home care. With everyone's help here, I hope I can figure things out. thanks again...Lilli
Other pointers I'd give are -
* Be prepared to have to hire and let go of a number of people. It's hard into is finding good, reliable aides, whose personality will mesh into your household. You should look for someone who loves the elderly and understands your mother's health issues. Some people expect to just "sit" with the elder, or "sleep" while Mom sleeps. The problem is that she doesn't sleep all night or for long periods of time, and she wants to get out of bed and look around the house!
* Give them a specific set of duties from the start.
* Make sure that you are very clear about the rate of pay, date of pay, and anything that could cause their pay to be docked.
* Be sure that you have several people you can call if the aide gets sick or calls off for an emergency.
* Be prepared to lose some privacy. It was difficult for me to adjust having people in the house all the time. Never leave valuables around, or anything that you don't want others to see.
I hope that this helps some.