Caregiver News & Notes

As we boomers enter our senior years, we are bound and determined to stay fit and healthy. Well, some of us are. Quite a few boomers and current seniors will require some sort of long or short-term medical care in the coming years. As a matter of fact, we are about to clog the health care pipeline as we age, become infirmed and require more professional medical assistance. To compound the problem, there is currently a shortage of qualified nurses. Plus, there are not enough rehab centers and nursing homes to accomodate the needs of the growing pool of seniors. And it is likely to get much worse before it gets better.

So, we will either be hiring a service to send a nurse into our home to care for us… or we will care for each other.

The role of “caregiver” will be applied to more and more spouses and family members in the coming years. We will learn to provide basic care and to use specific medical supplies and equipment when providing this care.

If we opt for an outside service we will be challenged to find a reliable and trustworthy provider. The Winston-Salem Journal produced a series that addresses the realities and challenges of the in-home health care system. They review the problems and abuses and provide recommendations and insights about selecting the right health care partner.

We’ll talk more about the role of family caregivers in upcoming posts.

 

The governer of New Jersey signed a law recently that will give seniors a choice when it comes deciding about long-term health care. Medicaid funds will now be available for nursing home care or in-home health care, depending on the preference of the senior eligible for coverage.

Many seniors with health issues do much better when in a familiar environment. The new law will allow seniors that choose home care, adult day care or assisted living. Read more about this progressive approach here.