We live in a time when healthcare advances are helping extend the life of many. As more and more Americans live to older ages, America is faced with a variety of new situations. Just as the work force is benefitting from workers who are able to stay on the job longer, we also have an aging population that is learning to cope with their advanced age in a way that does not become a burden to their family. Family care providers help many in our society to stay in their homes longer than they could on their own. In addition, family care providers allow aging adults to stay at home and without being a burden to their adult children.
America’s health care platforms are changing. From mobile health clinics that can prevent people from having to wait long hours in a traditional family physician’s office to after hours urgent care centers, the increasing number of Americans with access to healthcare have a number of options. No longer tied to the stereotypical health care options of regular family care physicians office visits or emergency room trips, today’s Americans can make use of more convenient options. And just as the healthcare options are changing so too are the options for care for aging members of society. While in the past old age may have meant a move to a nursing home or selling a home and moving into an expensive retirement community, family care providers allow many elders to stay in their own homes.
If they could, many children would do everything within their power to make sure that their aging parents could stay comfortably in their own homes. Separated by distance, however, means that many children simply cannot make daily visits to their older parents. Even children who live close often have necessary ties to jobs, their own children, and other commitments. Finding a family care provider can be the solution to all of these situations. By staying in a home with an elder, family care providers can make sure that an elder will be able to safely stay in his or her home. in many cases, family health care plans can help cover the cost of a family care provider.
Getting Older Presents a Variety of Challenges Even for Elders Who Are Healthy
There are many challenges to getting older. Even if an elder is physically healthy, the challenge of living longer than your friends, and sometimes your own children, can be stressful. perhaps because of this reason and others the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the rates of depression in elderly people can range from 3% to 13.5%. Sometimes the depression in a older person is increased by the stress of knowing that he or she is beginning to have memory issues. Statistics indicate that nearly one in 20 adults over the age of 65 suffer some form of memory loss. These statistics also indicate that 30 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, which can include Alzheimer?s disease and other forms of memory loss.
According to current data, America will need as many as 52,000 more primary care physicians by the year 2025 to meet the nation’s healthcare needs. Part of the reason that so many health care professionals will be needed is that recent legislation has made insurance coverage available to more people. These newly covered individuals are, in turn, more likely to seek healthcare. Another reason that our country will need more physicians in the future is that many Americans are living to older ages. And while the nation is working to encourage more people to enter the health field, adult children are also struggling to find the help that they need to care for their aging parents.
For every advancement that doctors and scientists make society receives benefits, while at the same time having to deal with the ramifications of those benefits. In the case of medical advancements, the benefit is that more and more Americans are living to older ages. The ramifications of those benefits are that many families are searching for ways to help their aging parents stay in their homes. Family care providers can be the answer.