8 Benefits of a Nursing Home
In the ever-changing world of senior caring, more and more care options are appearing each year. With such a large variety, it can be confusing when choosing an alternate care option for your loved one. Finding the right fit for your loved one is the key to ensuring they are happy and well taken care of. Nursing homes provide a myriad of caring components, which cater to those who need medical assistance and personal care assistance. In order to make sure any particular nursing homes are the best option for your loved one, consider the benefits and how it fits you or a loved one's lifestyle!
8 Key Benefits of a Nursing Home:
1. Help with Daily Activities of Living
Many who enter into nursing homes have limited abilities when performing tasks of personal care. Nursing homes include staff with medical certifications who are qualified to help seniors with tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and the administration of medication. Although not all seniors will need assistance with these tasks, the staff is constantly and readily available.
2. Structured Days
As one grows older, it becomes more beneficial to create a structured day. When living with a family member, seniors tend to be subjected to the chaotic family schedule. With daily and monthly calendars, nursing homes create a flexible but standard day procedure. This includes setting times for meals, activities, and other events. Having structure as one ages is important in order to consistently engage with the world each day. Scheduled activities and events give the residents challenging but manageable stimulation to actively exercise the mind. This will help prevent isolation, depression, memory deterioration, and cognitive deterioration of the mind.
3. Social Interaction
Residing in a communal residence, social interaction is unavoidable. With many similar types of people living under one roof, creating a social and support network is easily achievable in nursing homes. Often, nursing homes will create social activities for residents to engage and form friendships. Seniors tend to become isolated later in life; living in an environment with encouraged interaction allows seniors to relate and share life experiences. Creating this later-in-life network can be very beneficial to those dealing with similar situations in their golden years.
4. House Keeping and Meal Services
In addition to assisting individual seniors with daily tasks, nursing homes provide laundry, cleaning and meal services for residents. Because these tasks require more effort and physicality, staff will perform all cleaning needed in the residential units. Meals will also be included. Typically three meals plus a designated amount of snacks are offered to residents. With health professionals cooking the meals, a balanced and healthy diet is provided for residents. Often times, nursing homes will also have a nutritionist on staff to help with specialized resident diets.
5. Health Care Services
Most obviously, nursing homes are designed in part for those with limited abilities due to deteriorating medical conditions. Therefore each nursing home is staffed with doctors, registered nurses and other health care professionals including psychologists. Health care professionals will look after resident medication regimens, monitor their health around the clock, perform emergency services, and provide general medical and heath attention as needed.
6. General Senior Safety
Unfortunately, the elderly population is frequently the target of many looking to take advantage of others. When living in a nursing home, safety is almost guaranteed. The entrances of many nursing homes are consistently watched by administration and nursing staff with designated visiting hours and locked doors at night creating a safe and managed placed for seniors to reside. Additionally, each community is built to accommodate walkers, wheelchairs, and other assistive equipment.
7. Relieving Caregiver Stress
According to recent studies, caregivers put in between 18 and 40 hours per week caring for aging loved ones. With constant full-time care needed for some seniors, stress and tension develop for overworked caregivers. Often times, the caregiver is managing many other life factors while diligently caring for their loved one. Stress and tension are not healthy for anyone involved; therefore, considering nursing homes and other alternate senior caring options can provide a better option for better care.
8. Access to Outside Resources
In this modern age, it is nearly impossible to live without internet or phone access. Many times seniors need these resources in case of an emergency, or just to contact family and browse the web. Nursing homes provide Internet access, phone access and cable access for residents, so they'll always be able to stay connected. The staff is also available to actively help the senior residents with utilizing these resources for any purpose.
With all of this in mind, it's important to visit a prospective community to ensure that an individual's needs will be met appropriately. Take a tour, talk to residents and staff, and see if nursing home care is right for you! We have plenty of resources to assist your decision-making process and are here for you every step of the way!
