Long-term care insurance is generally needed by the elderly but it is also needed by other people who suffer with a debilitating illness or injury that makes it necessary for them to have assistance to perform the every day essentials activities that many of us take for granted, such as feeding oneself, bathing, and getting dressed.
Skilled care is provided in a skilled nursing facility such as a nursing home.A skilled nursing facility has registered nurses who assist in providing 24-hour care to patients that can no longer care for themselves.A doctor will supervise each patient’s care but nurses and other medical professionals are almost always on duty.Most nursing homes have two types of services that they offer, they are skilled care and custodial care.
Skilled care includes the services of trained professionals that are needed for a limited amount of time or a long period of time.Some of the services that are provided for a limited amount of time may be changing a dressing after surgery, or administering antibiotics for an infection, physical therapy to assist the patient in regaining mobility, speech therapy to help the patient communicate after a stroke, or an occupational therapist to help the person relearn the skills needed for independent living. Skilled care may be needed on a long term basis if a resident requires injections, ventilation or treatments of that nature.
Some of the requirements for qualifying for a skilled nursing facility may be they the resident can’t take care of themselves due to a physical condition; they can no longer care for their own personal needs such as eating, bathing, toileting, mobility, or taking medications; they require more care than a caregiver alone can provide; they may endanger themselves by wandering away if unsupervised; they have extensive medical needs that require monitoring by a medical professional; if they are discharged from a hospital but still require rehabilitation before returning home; or it has been recommended for a nursing home by a physician.
Nursing homes may be expensive even with long-term care insurance if the policy requires you to pay deductibles, or if they only pay a certain amount for each day and the care required exceeds those amounts, or if the policy will only cover a shorter amount of time of skilled care.For these reasons patients may only spend a short time in a nursing home and may opt for an assisted living facility that will provide more limited care to the patient if the patient is able to manage with less assistance.Assisted living facilities still offer help with the every day activities but they have very limited medical care.
Each patient’s need for care or assistance is different. Some individuals may have a short-term need, perhaps due to a fall or a broken hip, that requires a brief hospitalization followed by rehabilitation. After a short term stay in a nursing home, the patient may be able to return home and continue receiving services such as physical therapy from a home health care agency, if necessary.Others have more long-term needs, possibly due to Alzheimer’s, extreme frailty, or a stroke with these patients care is necessary on an ongoing basis.
Skilled nursing facilities provide a private or a shared room.The bathroom may also be shared or private.Some facilities may allow couples to stay together, and some even may allow pets.However, with the focus on patient care some of the sense of home may be lost.
When you are in the prime of your life it is hard to think of needing skilled nursing care, but with the life expectancy of people rising there is a record number of people approaching their senior years it is reasonable to think that some of us will require nursing home care as our circumstances change.Considering a long-term care insurance policy may be worth considering.