Senior Care in San Marcos Comes Home Again

It’s easy to forget that the nursing home is a relatively new concept. Rather than sending the elderly to live under the constant care of nurses and staff, families throughout history have cared for them at home. Of course, part of the reason for the rise of nursing homes is an increase in national prosperity—it’s now financially possible for some families to pay for a senior’s needs to be provided instead of providing them themselves. But today, some experts in the area of demographics are warning that relying on the nursing home model for the care that the retiring Baby Boomers will soon need is a mistake. Home-based senior care in San Marcos and throughout the country, they argue, is a much more viable solution.

Unable to Handle the Load

A long-term care facility is a complex operation, combining elements of the hospitality, medical, legal, and financial industries, among others. It employs a large number of specialists in those areas, and faces significant expenses as it seeks to provide the care that residents need and deserve. As population researchers look at that model, they conclude that our nation is simply not able to sustain enough high quality nursing homes to efficiently serve the rapidly growing elderly segment of society. We need another solution, perhaps something between the nursing home and family-provided care.

Advising a Change in Focus

Affordability, quality of care, and the preference of seniors themselves all point to the foremost alternative to enrolling in a long-term care facility: care provided by professionals at the homes of seniors. According to the best judgment of experts, states should be devoting more funding to programs that serve seniors at home and less to helping new nursing homes. With the at-home care model, families gain an “in-between” solution: they might not be able to provide 24-hour care for their senior parents, but they also might not need to. If several hours of care each day is all an elderly client needs, moving to a nursing home is an expensive, unnecessary step.

Versatility Equals Value with Senior Care in San Diego County

The truth is that even 24-hour senior care in San Diego County is more affordable than living in most nursing homes. When you combine that fact with the benefits of allowing a senior to remain in her familiar surroundings and avoid the upheaval and mental stress of moving to a new environment, at-home care is even more attractive. Families who look into home care are often surprised at just how flexible their options are—from checking in on a largely independent senior to providing round-the-clock assistance with daily living tasks, there is a level of care to match each client’s unique set of needs.

Photo by Ralph Zuranski