Nursing Home vs. In Home Care

Nursing homes:

                Luckily if a nursing home in the United States accepts Medicaid or Medicare payments they are subject to federal regulations.  This is a relief as it insures a certain level of care will be provided for your loved one.  Unfortunately the federal regulations do not state that all workers in a nursing home have to be more than a Certified Nurse’s Assistant.  This means that there may be a limited number of very skilled staff.

                Nursing homes can be an ideal choice for those that have a loved one that needs full time care but are still working or the loved one will need very long term care.  Luckily Medicare and Medicaid cover a lot of these expenses, however, most people start by paying out of pocket and this can deplete savings very quickly.

                One oversight that can be made is that people move a loved one to a nursing home or care facility and then as time goes by they forget to visit as often as they once did.  This can be very hard on the individual placed in the nursing home.  If you choose this option please make a commitment to insure that your loved one has a support system outside of the care facility.

In home care:

                Whether or not to provide in home care is very conditional.  If a person is working full time but has a loved one that requires 24 hour care it can be a very hard road.  This may mean that you need to look at nursing homes or other care facilities or you need to look into hiring help for the hours that you cannot provide the care giving.

                In home care can be a great way to give back to the people in your life that has helped you.  The caregiver does need to consider the weight of the situation and the burden that comes with it.  We are not saying that it is not a welcome burden at times but after ten years of caring for someone you may begin to think you didn’t sign up for such a long term decision.

                As with owning your own company, you get to hire or fire those that you feel are best for your situation.  You do not have that right when dealing with a nursing home.  You are at the home’s mercy.  When providing in home care you can hire the best caregivers available to help you if you have the financial ability to do so.