Comfort Around the Clock: Navigating 24-Hour Home Care Services for Older Adults

Deciding what you want from home care experience can be a tough decision. You’re not only finding a care provider who meets your care needs but also one who fits your budget. This process gets more complex when you need 24-hour at home care. 

Choosing a 24-hour care professional takes more time, as this individual or team of people will be around your loved one always. You should trust their approach to support, level of care, and judgement, which makes this decision very important.

Contact us today to get in touch with ComForCare; we deliver amazing at-home care services with professionals you can trust. To learn more about this type of support, read more below.

Why People Choose 24-Hour Home Care Services

While everyone’s reasons for choosing at-home care are unique, the main conceit is that your loved one’s needs are either extensive yet consistent enough throughout the day or severe enough that they can only be met if someone is always on-site. This is common for people with chronic health issues, like various types of dementia. 

Other reasons for choosing 24-hour care include sudden injury, limitations to mobility, palliative care needs, and recovery from surgery. Sometimes a care recipient or their family will simply choose round-the-clock care for greater peace of mind.

What to Expect from 24-Hour Home Care

If you or your loved ones have never received this type of care before, it may be difficult to understand exactly what kinds of services you can count on:

Consistent Support 

This is the main draw for this specific form of at-home care. With 24-hour care, there is never a time throughout the day when your loved one is without support. It typically covers elements like toileting assistance, hygiene support, and other essential care needs.

Help with Daily Activities of Living

Whether light housework or laundry assistance, support with daily activities of living can be a huge help. In cases of recovering from surgery or an accident, rest is key to the healing process. Having a care professional around helps to prioritize that rest, especially when day-to-day responsibilities are no longer a pressing concern. People with chronic illness may have less energy than others; helping with daily tasks means they can use their energy elsewhere, such as spending time with family or pursuing a hobby they love.

Transportation

Health encapsulates more than just how your body functions daily. A study from the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry showed evidence that maintaining healthy levels of socialization can make a major difference in a person’s overall health, especially their mental health. Transportation services that 24-hour home care services offer can help maintain important social connections, on top of helping your loved one get to important appointments and run errands.

Home-Cooked Meals

Proper nutrition is essential to overall health, but it can become increasingly tricky as we age. Most 24-hour at-home care agencies will be able to offer this service at an additional charge. Depending on the agency, meal delivery may be offered instead.

The Benefits of 24-Hour Care for Seniors

• Independence

It is a common misconception that embracing consistent, professional care means that someone is giving up their independence. Your care professional is not there to limit you – they are there to do the exact opposite. Proper care should prioritize recipient independence.

• Better Health Outcomes

Consistency in care means that health issues which might normally slip through the cracks due to daily life will no longer go by the wayside. Having care available at all times can help prevent risk, such as abrasions getting infected, or medication being missed.

• Safety

Simply put, having someone around at all hours means that if disaster strikes, either through a fall or a fire, there is someone ready to take action. In emergencies, not a single second will be wasted waiting for someone to respond to a need for help.

Important Distinctions for Home Care Near You

Not all home care agencies have the same offerings, so it is key to understand what an agency can do for you before pursuing their help. Such important distinctions can include:

• 24-Hour Home Care for Dementia Patients – Dementia requires a more specific skillset. Care professionals helping people with dementia should be specially trained. For instance, ComForCare provides its team members with a custom-made, industry-standard setting training called DementiaWise®.
• Add-Ons – Not all services are standard, such as meal preparation, housekeeping, laundry, and transportation services. If any of these are non-negotiable for you or your loved one, it will be important to look for them or ask management at your agency of choice about their options.

Signs of Excellence in 24-Hour Home Care Services

• Years of Experience – The longer an agency has been in business, the longer they have had to learn and perfect their approach.
• Customer Reviews – This is one of the best ways to see if you can trust a care provider. If you see consistent customer compliments or complaints around certain areas, you can be relatively certain of their overall quality.
• Friendly Staff – While this is a simple trait you want to see in care professionals, it also helps show how discerning a 24-hour home care agency is with who they hire.

It is important to keep in mind that none of these will guarantee an agency is the right fit for your loved one. They are just more likely to provide quality care.

24-Hour Home Care Services Done Right

Whether you or a loved one need involved at-home care to help with chronic issues like dementia or would benefit from having someone whenever needed, round-the-clock care may be the answer. Often, the best way to find the right fit is to get out there and meet the professionals providing such services.

Contact us to speak with one of our friendly, professional team members about the comprehensive 24-hour at-home care options we have available.