The Availability of Eldercare Programs - Research Paper Example

? Eldercare: A Literature Review Eldercare: A Literature Review Eldercare, also aged care is the fulfillment of the special requirements and needs unique to the elderly, senior citizens. Eldercare comprises of services such as adult day care, nursing homes, assisted living, hospice care, long term care, and home care. Due to the broad elderly care varieties found globally, and the differentiating elderly citizen cultural perspectives, eldercare is not limited to any one practice. Eldercare emphasizes the personal and social requirements of aged citizens who require some form of assistance with their health care and daily activities, and desire to be dignified in their aging (Ansah, Matchar, Love, Malhotra, Chan & Eberlein, 2013). This paper seeks to provide a synthesis of academic/scholarly literature written on work-life initiative, and give a literature review on the work-life initiative. This paper will focus on eldercare as a work-life initiative. Traditionally, elderly care is a responsibility of members of a family, and is provided in the homes of the extended family. However, in modern states, care for the elderly is provided by charitable institutions or state. This is due to the decreasing size of families, geographical dispersion of families, greater life expectancy, and tendency of women to work outside homes and access to education. Various countries provide differing forms of elderly care, rapidly changing. This is because there are various regional differences regarding taking care of the elderly. It has been noted that globally that elderly care consume majority of health expenditures compared to other age groups. Increasing large proportion of the elderly has also been accounted for globally (Petterson, Donnersvard, Lagerstrom & Toomingas, 2006). In most of the western countries, facilities of elderly care are within residential family care homes, continuing care retirement communities, nursing homes, and freestanding assisted living facilities. These facilities have supervisory and support staff that provide board and room, rehabilitation services, and personal care in a family environment. Evidence shows that eldercare programs are a care service that provides free, confidential assistance to senior citizens: the elderly. The programs offer a wide range of services including informative lectures and workshops; confidential, free counseling, assessment, consultation, and referral to both long distance and local facilities; and periodic group meetings with caregiver support (Denton, 2012). There are different benefits of eldercare initiatives depending on different countries. However, in most western nations, senior citizens receive social security and eldercare benefits. Social security and Medicare are long term benefits that the elderly receive. Receiving such benefits often begin at 65 and continue until death. This is a long time approach paid out in many years (Ansah, Matchar, Love, Malhotra, Chan & Eberlein, 2013). Eldercare services are normally paid for by the working class. Money is taken out of every paycheck until the retirement age when such people begin to receive money every month to survive on. Senior citizens make the majority of those receiving social security. This is termed as elder care benefit and benefits people who live up to the qualified age to receive it. Long term eldercare is a relief to the population of senior citizens as it lasts for years of receiving monthly payment to live on. However, government has a way to ensure beneficiaries qualify for the benefits (Ansah, Matchar, Love, Malhotra, Chan & Eberlein, 2013). Apart from social security, there are other long term benefits that come with the eldercare program. Programs like Medicare and Medicaid are available to the elderly at the age of retirement. These two programs supplement the eldercare program with accessible and affordable health programs, and limited co-pay. The programs help the elderly with all sorts of care they require so as to live and keep their places of living without any worry or strain. Eldercare ensures that senior citizens participating in the program are able to afford and access medicine, housing facilities they need. However, social security program comes with difficult choices and decisions to be made (Denton, 2012). It is often difficult to decide between food and medicine. This is the position some elderly people find themselves in every month. Nevertheless, there are other programs implementing these long term running social programs to enable the elderly to provide adequately for themselves. This includes reduced rates of medical care, and reduced pharmacy rate that provides medication. This brings self sufficiency mode to the elderly. It gives them ample time living at home and providing for them. In the absence of eldercare programs, majority of elderly people would not make it through months. With this program, many elderly people are able to maintain and enjoy their way of life. Eldercare initiative keeps senior citizens active, leading their lives to the fullest (Zacher, Jimmieson & Winter, 2012). As majority of people age, the need for help with day to day activities crops in. This begs the question as to whether or not such people should still stay in their homes, or move to assisted living residence with eldercare programs. However, home care still remains the best option for the elderly. Those elderly people living in their homes keep a level of freedom, not found in assisted living facilities. For most of them, this kind of freedom is the same as keeping dignity, which they never want to lose as they age. Home care enables the elderly to live and physically stay close to people and things they love (Zacher, Jimmieson & Winter, 2012). Their priceless possessions do not have to be moved and stored in single rooms. Elderly people are normally sentimental about their possessions as they tie them to countless memories, and home care allows them to stay around these items. Seniors are also able to keep their pets around them when at home. Research shows that people keeping pets have a longer lifespan because they are often less stressed. Eldercare services given at home allow family and friends to be with their seniors without any restrictions of visiting. This helps elderly people stay together and connected with their loved ones. In places where many people stay together like assisted living residence, possibility of illness spreading is so high. However, home care keeps the elderly healthy and confident with great privacy (Denton, 2012). In conclusion, the availability of eldercare programs has now made it easy for elderly people to receive homecare in their homes and close to their families. Eldercare comprises of services such as adult day care, nursing homes, assisted living, hospice care, long term care, and home care. Eldercare services help senior citizens to carry on with their life even after reaching retirement age (Petterson, Donnersvard, Lagerstrom & Toomingas, 2006)). Services such as social security and Medicare prolongs the life of the elderly as they are able to access and afford healthcare services, and earn monthly income while at home. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, women are the majority of caregivers. Many studies also look at family care giving as a role of women. Women are the majority of informal care providers worldwide. Percentage estimates of informal or family caregivers who are female range between 59 percent and 75 percent, with the age of an average care provider at 46. Even though men also give assistance, women care providers spend about 50 percent of their time offering elder care services than men do (Zacher, Jimmieson & Winter, 2012). References Ansah, J. P., Matchar, D. B., Love, S. R., Malhotra, R., Do, Y., Chan, A., & Eberlein, R. (2013). Simulating the Impact of Long-Term Care Policy on Family Eldercare Hours. Health Services Research, 48(2pt2), 773-791. Denton, S. L. (2012). Adding eldercare questions to the American Time Use Survey. Monthly Labor Review, 135(11), 26-35. Petterson, I. L., Donnersvard, H. A., Lagerstrom, M. M., & Toomingas, A. A. (2006). Evaluation of an intervention programme based on empowerment for eldercare nursing staff. Work & Stress, 20(4), 353-369. Zacher, H., Jimmieson, N. L., & Winter, G. (2012). Eldercare demands, mental health, and work performance: The moderating role of satisfaction with eldercare tasks. Journal Of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(1), 52-64. Read More