What You Need to Know About Home Care

Most families with aged family members wish they could live with them at home. It is especially so due to the constraints associated with visiting their loved ones in a hospital or specialised facility. Unknown to them, various organisations offer home care in Australia. So, what is home care, and how does it work? 

What Is Home Care? 

Ageing individuals often develop conditions that affect their health and independence. For instance, they experience mobility-related conditions that predispose them to falls and affect their ability to perform household tasks. Moreover, they could develop diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, depression, or arthritis. At this stage, they need medical support and caregivers to help them live a dignified life. 

Home care refers to a wide range of medical and non-medical interventions aimed at alleviating the health of older Australians living in their homes. Typically, experienced caregivers help your loved one with hygiene and household tasks. They also ensure your loved one takes their medication on time and recommend medical care if their health deteriorates. The caregivers also help your loved one with exercise and physiotherapy to enhance their mobility and help prevent muscle atrophy. 

Home care also helps aging seniors regain their independence. For instance, the home care provider could renovate the home with rails, ramps, disability-friendly bathrooms, and lowered shelves. These renovations help your loved one shower, move around their home, and prepare meals independently. 

What Are the Benefits of Home Care? 

The primary benefit of home care is that the arrangement guarantees the comfort of your loved one. Once you take your loved one to a specialised facility, they could get lonely since they lack the warmth of their loved ones. Moreover, the facility might not be as comfortable as their homes. In a home care arrangement, family members can redesign the home to suit the needs of their aged family member. 

Another advantage of home care is that your aged loved one receives personalised care. Typically, the home care provider assesses your loved one's medical and non-medical needs and draws a home care plan detailing the goals of the various support recommended. For instance, the home care provider could propose a specific diet to restore your loved one's health or strength. This intricate approach might not be available in aged-care homes where staff attend to many residents daily.

Also, with My Aged Care, you can find home care services that match your loved one’s needs. A simple search here will reveal what home care providers can assist with your loved one’s specific situation, help you determine if your loved one is eligible for government-funded aged care and explore the various costs that aged home care might have.

Home care is also cost-effective compared to assisted living facilities and aged care homes. Your loved one does not incur accommodation costs. Besides, the home care provider does not charge when you do not have a caregiver at your home. For instance, some family members could offer caregiving services on weekends. 

How Do You Choose a Home Care Provider?

You will find numerous providers offering home care services in Australia. As a best practice, you should conduct due diligence before engaging an agency. For instance, assess whether the agency meets the government’s Quality Standards. This grants the agency to your government health fund, significantly reducing home care costs.

Examine the competence of caregivers employed by the provider. For instance, do they have any training in providing ageing support services? How do the provider's consumers rate the caregivers? A caregiver should be an empathetic individual with the skill to motivate consumers to abide by the recommended home care plan. 

You should also examine the services offered by the home care provider. The general rule is to consider providers that offer a wide range of services, even those you do not need. For instance, you might not need medical care when selecting a provider. However, choosing an provider that offers medical support helps prevent the inconvenience of looking for another provider when you need this service. 

Home care is the best way to offer ageing support to your loved one. Finding the right service provider helps guarantee positive outcomes and dignified sunset years. Sunrise Home Care is an accredited and experienced home care provider offering a wide range of home care services in Australia. Contact us today for personalised and high-quality home care services.