Long Term Care Essay

Long-term care can be summed up as a variety of services to help an individual meet both the medical and non-medical needs of those with chronic illnesses, disabilities and the elderly. Long term care is provided to those who cannot care for themselves for a long period of time and need daily assistance to live a fulfilling life. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) Making a decision about long term care can be one of the most difficult decisions for families to make. There are also a lot of things to take into consideration when choosing a long term care facility. Often times than not, it takes a significant event for someone to realize that they need long term care. Some often go way beyond the point of safely living by themselves before getting help. The thought of of having to rely on someone else to sustain a healthy life makes some uneasy. There can be many forms of long term health care facilities to choose from, but there are three main ones that are the most popular choices for long term care;

Long term care is more common because often times family members take on the responsibility of caring for the family in need. If the family members take responsibility in caring for the member in need of care, typically they can receive compensation for their labor. Although family members (informal caregivers) can provide care it is limited. There is often times a specialized assistant, nurse or certified nurse’s assistant that come and help with the tasks that require a skilled background. Daily living tasks such as, lifting, bathing, using the restroom and assisting with walking can be a daunting task to family caregivers if they do not have the proper training. There are also small daily tasks such as doing the laundry, managing bills, and answering the phone, these are typically only seen in the home setting and not needed in a nursing home or