What is Long-term Care?

Long-term care is traditionally provided for individuals who can no longer care for themselves. There are many different types of long-term care depending on your financial situation and health needs. Long-term care encompasses services like Assisted Living, 24-hour Home Care, Long-term Skilled Nursing and Memory Care. A healthcare professional can guide you towards the best option for you depending on your medical, mental, and physical situation. 

Those who need long-term care are often people living with chronic health problems that affect their ability to perform everyday activities such as bathing, dressing, remembering to take medication, and receiving proper nutrition. According to the National Institute of Aging, “The need for long-term care can arise suddenly, such as after a heart attack or stroke. Most often, however, it develops gradually, as people get older and frailer or as an illness or disability gets worse.” Long-term care redefines the problems and finds solutions based on a new understanding of complex situations.

A long-term care team consists of medical professionals and caregivers who will provide a variety of services to care for the needs of an individual on a holistic basis to ensure that they maintain as optimal health as possible. This team is skilled in a variety of health and wellness services including:

• Nursing
• Dietary
• Dentistry
• Optometry
• Podiatry
• Psychiatry
• Respiratory care
• Wound care

After reviewing the services long-term care provides the question of pricing may arise. Long-term care at home can be a bit expensive ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 a year depending on how qualified your caregiver is. However, there are many insurance policies that cover long-term care. Consider looking into long-term care insurance that offers lifetime benefits and covers custodial and intermediate care as well as skilled care. Remember, the younger you are when you purchase LTC insurance will reduce your premium as you get older.

At Spring Hills Senior Communities, we provide a continuum of medical and social engagement in our long-term care unit to support the needs of people living with chronic health problems. Patients and their caregivers are also educated and trained in daily living skills (such as dressing, bathing, eating, and grooming), provided therapeutic activities for memory and comprehension and assisted with verbal and non-verbal communication skills. To learn more about our long-term care services click here.