The Many Types Of Home Senior Care Available In Wood Dale, IL and Surrounding Areas
Learn more about the different type of home senior care available to help your loved one in Wood Dale, IL
When a senior loved one needs help with daily living tasks due to a long-term illness or short-term condition family members are often left in a quandary. They don't want to think about assisted living communities and nursing homes, but they also understand that their loved one needs support at home. As one considers the various types of home care, the process can become overwhelming. Knowing a few differences between the different types of services and providers can help.
There are many types of in home senior care but the three most common are housekeeping services, personal care services, and specialized supports. Some home care agencies act as an umbrella for two or more different types of home care and employ caregivers that can seamlessly move between them.
Housekeeping services typically include laundry, vacuuming and other cleaning, meal preparation, running errands, local transportation, companionship, and medication management support.
Personal care refers to intimate supports such as bathing, grooming, dressing, oral hygiene, toileting and incontinence care, eating support, and so forth.
Specialized supports range from 24-hour care to private-duty nursing along with services and supports specifically designed for seniors with specialized needs including dementia and Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's, ALS, and other progressive or degenerative conditions.
In addition to different types of home care services, there are also different types of home care providers.
Employment-based Agencies. Comfort Keepers is an example of an employee-based agency. With this sort of in-home provider, caregivers are employees of a corporation, subsidiary, or franchise. As such, caregivers are background checked, screened, trained, supervised, and usually insured and bonded. The employer takes care of business-related issues such as payroll, taxes, insurance, and so forth.
Registries. A registry manages a list of caregivers and contracts them out as needed. They do not employ the caregiver, per se, so they often do not provide business-related services. This means that the person hiring a contractor from a registry may find themselves responsible for employment tax withholdings and insurance coverage. Some registries act as an intermediary for payroll and others carry worker's compensation insurance. Seniors and their families need to be aware of their responsibilities if using a registry to hire an in-home caregiver.
Independents. Independents are people from the community that are willing to provide in home senior care for a fee. They may be a friend or somebody who advertises in the paper or on social media that is not part of an official business. Either way, an independent caregiver is the legal employee of the person hiring them. This means that the senior or their family is responsible for all employment taxes and deductions for the caregiver, appropriate insurance coverage in case the caregiver gets injured while providing care, and general liability insurance in case the caregiver causes property damage. Seniors should check the caregiver’s background, experience, references, and licensure.
For more information about types of home senior care or the many ways Comfort Keepers can maximize the quality of your loved one's elder years, contact a senior home care coordinator today.
