Long-Term Care Elderly Individuals - Essay Example

Long-term care Long-term care Long-term care options Conditions in the modern world have rendered it impossible for family membersto care for their aging relatives as a result of their busy schedules in their work. The high cost of health care has also made caring for old individuals difficult. Therefore, it is important for individuals to start planning for their long-term care early enough. This paper explicates issues of long term care through focusing on a case scenario involving two elderly individuals, Don and Mary. Based on the case scenario presented in the book Dimensions of long term care management: An introduction, Don and Mary are elderly individuals who are in need of long term care as a result of their advanced age. Mary has been diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and Sundowners syndrome characterized by memory loss. Though Don was initially the care giver, he had to employ a home health assistant or helper to conduct household tasks every day when his health subsequently declined as a result of his advanced age (McSweeney-Feld and Oetjen, 2012). There are a number of long-term care options that Don, according to the above scenario, ought to consider for Mary and himself. One of these options include assisted living. Allen (2004) defines assisted living as "That part of the long-term care continuum that serves the rapidly expanding population of persons who no longer are able to live independently in a residence but who do not need the 24-hour-a-day nursing services provided in nursing homes" (p. 3). Mary has been experiencing memory loss and hence she requires help or assistance with her daily chores as she can easily forget something. It is also worth noting that Don also requires assistance as he has no one else apart to look after him. Their children appears to have independent lives and hence assisted living can be a good option for both Don and Mary. Other than assisted living, Don can consider continuing care retirement community (CCRC). This is a group of elderly and retired people living together as a community whereby a range of services including self-governing livelihoods for the elderly, assisted living, as well as nursing home services. Participants are required to sign an indenture and provided services are supported financially by the State (Pratt, 2010). This could be a home of significance to both Don and Mary as other than offering assisted care, they have a chance to socialize with other elderly individuals. Participants are provided with adequate housing and living care. Nursing care is also provided to the residents if need be. Requirements necessary to access assisted living and continuing care retirement community (CCRC) There are requirements necessary for individuals to qualify for both assisted living care and continuing care retirement community (CCRC) care. For one to be able to access assisted living care, he or she ought to be in dire need of hospitality as well as individualized care. Subsequently, an individual must also have the capacity to make his or her own choices or otherwise be accompanied by the husband or wife who would assist him or her in making specific resolutions in their daily chores in relation to care. Other requirements to access assisted living care includes considerable or noteworthy safety risks associated with old age and ill health, and the ability to bills monthly bills accumulated in the process of care (Pratt, 2010). Admission to continuing care retirement community facilities requires one to have met certain decisive factors. One of the factors is age. In essence, many facilities can take in or accommodate seniors who have attained the age of 60 years and above. Similarly, one is required to be able to conduct his or her daily chores independently, and also have the ability to pay for the services offered. Both Don and Mary are eligible for admission in both care facilities. In assisted living, Don is available to help Mary make important decisions or pronouncements associated with care. After retirement, they both could have afforded the fees required for admission in these long term care facilities (Attorney, 2012). Funding mechanisms In many parts of the world, there are a number of funding mechanisms for long-term care available for the elderly. Much of the funding for these services are drawn from pensions. Having spent a great proportion of their lives as employees, both Don and Mary are pensioners and hence they can be able to afford these services. However, they ought to cut down their spending on international travels. According to the case scenario in McSweeney-Feld and Oetjen (2012), "Both retired at age 65 to pursue their dream of international travel and spending their childrens inheritance" (p. 36). Since their children are successful, Don and Mary can also use their childrens inheritance to fund their long term care. According to Glendinning et-al (2004), funding for long term care may originate from "private savings, private insurance, private insurance with public sector support, public sector tax-based support, and social insurance" (p. 4). In terms of private savings, Don and Mary could have opened a special account while still working and set aside a monthly contribution that could enable them afford long-term care at old age. Relying on private savings for funding long-term care has its own risks as savings may diminish before the end of the contract when it comes to continuing care retirement community. This means that there are restrictions to their choice of care options. Glendinning et-al (2004) additionally asserts that "Private insurance is generally more efficient than private savings, in that it involves pooling of risks. It can also redistribute from those with lesser to those with greater care needs" (p. 4). With private insurance, Don and Mary have the liberty to choose the kind of care they prefer as the insurance will cover all their bills. Planning for long-term care As mentioned earlier, there are a number of strategies that Don and Mary could have employed in a bid to plan their care during their later years. Long term care is very expensive nowadays and therefore proper planning is necessary for one to be able to afford it in later years. One of the ways that Don and Mary could have done in order to be able to afford long term care in their later years is keeping their expenses to a minimum after retirement. It is also worth elucidating the fact that they could have cut down their spending on the money they had saved and instead spend what they got from their part time work in their early years of their retired life. Secondly, they could have invested in long-term care insurance cover. This they could have done when they were much younger in order to increase their chances of getting it. Just like any other persons interested in planning for their long term care in later years, I also have my own plans. Keeping in mind the risk of needing long term care at a much younger age as a result of accidents or illnesses, saving alone is not enough to finance long term care in my later years. Therefore, my plan is to start saving early enough and subsequently insure myself against tragic catastrophes that may elevate the cost of long term care. Conclusion In conclusion, planning for long term care for later years is imperative. There are a number of long term care options that elderly individuals could consider. Some of these include assisted living and continuing care retirement community (CCRC). However, there is a criterion followed in order for an individual to qualify for these services. One, an individual must have attained a mandatory age that necessitates assisted living. Secondly, one must be able to afford the services provided in these long term care facilities. Thirdly is the ability to conduct ones chores independently or otherwise be accompanied by a spouse capable of making informed decisions or pronouncements in relation to care. Funding for long-term care may come from private or personal savings, private insurance, social insurance, and public sector support. Insurance is more reliable as compared to personal savings as they may diminish before the end of the contract. There are a number of strategies that individuals can employ to help them plan for their long term care in later years. Such strategies include insurance cover, and cutting down on expenses after retirement in order to be able to afford long term care later on in life. References Allen, J. E. (2004). Assisted Living Administration: The Knowledge Base, Second Edition. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Attorney, J. M. (2012). Long-Term Care: How to Plan & Pay for it. Berkeley, CA: Nolo Publishers. Glendinning, C., Davies, B., Pickard, L., & Comas-Herrera, A. (2004). Funding long-term care for older people: Lessons from other countries. Retrieved from http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/12645/1/Funding_long- term_care_for_older_people%28lsero%29.pdf McSweeney-Feld, M. H., & Oetjen, R. (2012). Dimensions of Long term care management: An introduction. Chicago, IL: American College of Health Executives. Pratt, J. (2010). Long-Term Care: Managing Across the Continuum. London, UK: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Read More