keeping the peace during a nursing home transition

As your loved one gets older, you may wonder if they should go to an assisted living home. However, in many cases, it may be best for your loved one to stay at home. Senior home care services can help your loved one stay safe and comfortable at home. If you would like to know more, check out these three benefits of senior home care.

1. It's Familiar and Comforting

As humans get older, they naturally experience some cognitive decline. In some cases, disease like dementia causes advanced cognitive decline. Regardless, being in a familiar setting can help with a senior's mood and memory, especially if your loved one has lived in the house for long periods of time and has many memories in the house.

Moving them to a new location, especially one like an assisted living facility can negatively affect them. The change in scenery alone can trigger memory issues, but the move can also affect their mood, causing depression, anxiety, anger, etc., which can also affect memory.

2. It Can Your Loved One Money

Assisted living facilities are designed to take care of patients in every way, including feeding, bathing, changing, going to the bathroom, and much more. However, all those services come at a high price. You can expect to pay an average of $4,000 a month, depending on the location and the quality of the facility.

On the other hand, a home health care professional may only cost about $22 an hour. Therefore, the exact cost depends largely on how much assistance your loved one needs. If your loved one needs 24/7 assistance, home health care may be more expensive, but if your loved one only needs some help during the day to clean, cook, and provide medical services, home health care can be drastically cheaper than a facility.

3. It's Great for Socialization

It may seem like assisted living facilities are a great place to socialize, and for some seniors, they are. However, some people may be unable to socialize normally; they may suffer from anxiety/depression, or they may simply be too upset about the move to talk with anyone. They may be comfortable talking with the caregivers, but the caregivers are incredibly busy.

With home health care, your loved one gets one-on-one attention. This helps them feel more comfortable, and it gives them someone to chat with, which can drastically help prevent loneliness and isolation, a common problem with seniors.

If your loved one is getting older, an assisted living facility may not be the ideal choice. Many seniors do better at home where they feel safe and comfortable. If you would like to know more, contact a home health care provider in your area today, such as Specialty Home Care.