Finding healthcare facilities you can feel comfortable in as you age in Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and New York can be difficult. Home health care services might be your best option for a number of reasons. It’s more convenient, and it lets you retain independence.
We’d like to share the numerous benefits of home health care with you. You may find that it’s an option you wish to consider as you start to require a little more help with your day-to-day life.
Reasons to Choose Home Health Care Services Over Nursing Homes
1. You’ll Feel Independent
When you’re in a nursing home, you have to abide by the facility’s rules. You may have to go to bed at a certain time, and your mealtimes are usually planned and set in stone. It can feel demeaning to some capable older people who still have independence and can mostly care for themselves. You know what you’re capable of doing, but nursing homes often ignore the independence that you have, as it’s easier for them to treat everyone the same way.
Having access to home health care services lets you live at home, live your life on your schedule, and you’ll get the help that you need with certain activities. You may only need a companion to go shopping with once a week, and that’s fine. Home health services can provide this for you, and it can truly make all the difference.
2. You’ll Get Tailored Support
People in nursing homes don’t always get tailored support. As we said above, everything is set in stone, from mealtimes to when it’s time to switch the lights at night. Some residents in nursing homes need a schedule that’s rigid and unchanging, but it may not be the schedule that suits you.
If you need somebody to come over and help you go to bed, then they’ll come over and help you at a time that suits you. If you need help cooking your meals, then someone will come and assist you at the time that you prefer. Your care will always be one-on-one and tailored to your needs exactly, so you’re not getting second-rate care that doesn’t truly benefit you as much as it should.
3. You’ll Stay Connected to Your Community
Many people have forged excellent bonds with people in their community, but it’s easy to lose those connections if you go to live in a nursing home. People simply don’t have the time to visit you as much as they’d like to, and friendships come to a bittersweet end.
If you have home healthcare, then you’re able to stay and be connected to your community. You can still go for a walk in your area, sit out on your porch to wave at neighbors, and do whatever it is that pleases you when bonding with your loved ones in your community. You’ll also be able to stay connected to your family more, as it’s easier for them to visit you at your home than it is for them to stop in at a nursing home during visiting hours.
4. You’ll Stay Healthier
If someone in a nursing home gets sick, then pretty much everyone in the home gets sick too. When you’re in an enclosed space with people, even if it’s a whole building, you’re all going to end up spreading the same germs and bacteria around until everyone catches whatever illness is making the rounds. If you stay at home, then this isn’t going to happen to you.
The healthcare worker who visits you will be healthy, and they’ll make sure they keep everything sanitary to avoid spreading other people’s germs to you. The nursing home down the street may be overrun by colds and flus, but you’ll be happy and healthy from the comfort of your home.
5. You’ll Recover Faster
Nobody is immune to illness, so you may catch a seasonal cold or flu or two. But you’re more than likely to recover faster if you’re at home. You’ll be more comfortable, less stressed, and able to take care of your needs in a timely manner. If you’re ill and stuck in a building full of other sick people, then your sickness is going to last longer, and you’ll have less freedom to take care of yourself in a way that benefits you.
6. You’ll Eat Whatever You Want
The menu is set in nursing homes. You can’t order takeout out once a month or choose to have breakfast for dinner one day. You have to eat what they give you, or you won’t eat at all. If you’re at home, then you get to decide what you eat. You can cook all of your favorite foods, order from your favorite restaurants, and even go out to visit those restaurants with the assistance of your home healthcare worker if necessary.
Food is a huge contributing factor to your mood and mental well-being, so being able to stay in control of your diet is a wonderful thing. Your carer will be able to cook with you or bring you foods from your favorite restaurants if you set something up with them. They can even help you meal prep if you’d like to have all of your favorite things in the fridge ready to heat and eat whenever you want to have your next meal.
7. You’ll Be Able to Travel
In a nursing home, you’ll be stuck inside all day. With home healthcare, you can go out whenever you like. If it’s safe for you to take a walk by yourself, then you can do that whenever you want. If you want to take a day trip, then all you have to do is let the healthcare service know, and we’ll do our best to arrange something for you. We want to work with you to make your life safer without you having to change your plans.
8. You’ll Find That It’s More Affordable
All nursing homes are costly, and the best nursing homes are an extreme financial drain on you and your family. However, home healthcare is often less costly, as it’s not full-time.
On top of that, up to 41 percent tax relief is claimable by whoever is paying your home healthcare bill. The financial benefits are numerous, and they’re just the icing on the cake when it comes to all of the benefits that choosing home healthcare over nursing home care will bring.
Choosing Healthcare in New York, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx
When choosing healthcare in New York, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx, you need to be mindful of what service you go with. It’s best if you go with a home health care company that cares about you and treats you like family. There are many healthcare services out there that will treat you like another nameless, faceless patient on their roster, and that’s absolutely not what you want. You want a healthcare service that cares.
If you’re looking for home healthcare, then please contact Parent Care. We want to take care of you, your aging or disabled loved ones, and whoever else needs our services to live a happy, independent, and healthy life.
