Home care is supportive care provided in the home. Care may be provided by licensed healthcare professionals who provide medical treatment needs or by professional caregivers who provide daily assistance to ensure the activities of daily living (ADLs) are met. In-home medical care is often and more accurately referred to as home health care or formal care. Often, the term home health care is used to distinguish it from non-medical care, custodial care, or private-duty care which refers to assistance and services provided by persons who are not nurses, doctors, or other licensed medical personnel. For terminally ill patients, home care may include hospice care. For patients recovering from surgery or illness, home care may include rehabilitative therapies.
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF), long-term care facilities, old people's homes, assisted living facilitiescare homes, rest homes, convalescent homes or convalescent care. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to indicate whether the institutions are public or private, and whether they provide mostly assisted living, or nursing care and emergency medical care. Nursing homes are used by people who do not need to be in a hospital, but cannot be cared for at home. The nursing home facility nurses have the responsibilities of caring for the patients' medical needs and also the responsibility of being in charge of other employees, depending on their ranks. Most nursing homes have nursing aides and skilled nurses on hand 24 hours a day.
Elder abuse is "a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person." This definition has been adopted by of the World Health Organization (WHO) from a definition put forward by Action on Elder Abuse in the UK. Laws protecting the elderly from abuse are similar to and related to laws protecting dependent adults from abuse.
An assisted living residence or assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people with disabilities or for adults who cannot or who choose not to live independently. The term is popular in the United States, but the setting is similar to a retirement home, in the sense that facilities provide a group living environment and typically cater to an older adult population. There is also Caribbean assisted living, which offers a similar service in a resort-like environment.
Elderly care, or simply eldercare, serves the needs and requirements of senior citizens. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes, hospice care, and home care. Because of the wide variety of elderly care needs and cultural perspectives on the elderly, it includes a broad range of practices and institutions. For example, government-run elderly care is seldom used in many Asian countries, where younger generations often care for the elderly.
Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long term care is focused on individualized and coordinated services that promote independence, maximize patients' quality of life, and meet patients' needs over a period of time.
Residential care refers to long-term care given to adults or children who stay in a residential setting rather than in their own home or family home.
An adult daycare center is typically a non-residential facility that supports the health, nutritional, social, and daily living needs of adults in a professionally staffed, group setting. These facilities provide adults with transitional care and short-term rehabilitation following hospital discharge. The majority of centers provide meals, meaningful activities, and general supervision. The care provided is often a social model or a medical model provided in order to improve participants health and guide their progress in the right direction. Demand for adult daycare centers is increasing with the need for assistance in old age or guidance to reintegrate into society after injury, illness or addiction, and accommodation to return to their former lives or improve upon their quality of life.
The American Health Care Association (AHCA) is a non-profit federation of affiliated state health organizations that represents more than 14,000 non-profit and for-profit nursing homes, assisted living communities, and facilities for individuals with disabilities. The organization's president and CEO is Mark Parkinson. The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) is a part of the AHCA.
A group home is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children or young people who cannot live with their families or afford their own homes, people with chronic disabilities who may be adults or seniors, or people with dementia and related aged illnesses. Typically, there are no more than six residents, and there is at least one trained caregiver there 24 hours a day. In some early "model programs", a house manager, night manager, weekend activity coordinator, and four part-time skill teachers were reported. Originally, the term group home referred to homes of 8 to 16 individuals, which was a state-mandated size during deinstitutionalization. Residential nursing facilities, also included in this article, may be as large in 2015 as 100 individuals, which is no longer the case in fields such as intellectual and developmental disabilities. Depending on the severity of the condition requiring one to need to live in a group home, some clients are able to attend day programs and most clients are able to live normal lifestyles.
Elder law denotes the law, regulations, and prevailing good legal practices applicable to a range of issues affecting individuals aged 65 and over.
As populations age, caring for people with dementia has become more common. Elderly caregiving may consist of formal care and informal care. Formal care involves the services of community and medical partners, while informal care involves the support of family, friends, and local communities, but more often from spouses, adult children and other relatives. In most mild to medium cases of dementia, the caregiver is a family member, usually a spouse or adult child. Over time more professional care in the form of nursing and other supportive care may be required, whether at home or in a long term care facility. There is evidence that case management can improve care for individuals with dementia and the experience of their caregivers. Furthermore, case management may reduce overall cost and institutional care in the medium term.
A professional live-in caregiver provides personal care and assistance to individuals, including those suffering from chronic illness, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia, within the home setting. Typical duties of a live-in caregiver include meal planning and preparation, assistance with grooming, dressing and toileting, medication management, laundry and light housekeeping, and transportation/escorts to doctor’s appointments or social engagements. Professional live-in caregivers are often provided by an outside agency, which may also coordinate their services with the client’s preferred in-home health agency and other medical providers.
A continuing care retirement community (CCRC), sometimes known as a life plan community, is a type of retirement community in the U.S. where a continuum of aging care needs—from independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing care—can all be met within the community. These various levels of shelter and care may be housed on different floors or wings of a single high-rise building or in physically adjacent buildings, such as garden apartments, cottages, duplexes, mid- and low-rise buildings, or spread out in a campus setting. The emphasis of the CCRC model is to enable residents to avoid having to move, except to another level of care within the community, if their needs change.
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging is a cabinet-level agency charged with providing aid to Pennsylvania's approximately 3 million individuals age 60 and older. Although the bureau operates some services directly, such as the Pharmaceutical Contact for the Elderly (PACE) prescription drug program, it generally serves as a clearinghouse of funding and information for county-level Area Agencies on Aging. The department was formed under the governorship of Milton Shapp.
A director of nursing (DON) is a registered nurse who supervises the care of all the patients at a health care facility. The director of nursing has special training beyond the training of a staff nurse for the position that pertains to health care management, and in some places, a director of nursing must hold a special license in order to be employed in that capacity.
As of 2017, approximately 1.4 million Americans live in a nursing home, two-thirds of whom rely on Medicaid to pay for their care. Residential nursing facilities receive Medicaid federal funding and approvals through a state health department. These facilities may be overseen by various types of state agency.
Elder rights are the rights of older adults, who in various countries are not recognized as a constitutionally protected class yet face discrimination across many aspects of society due to their age.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted long-term care facilities and nursing homes around the world. Thousands of residents of these facilities, who are a high-risk group, have died of the disease.
Camilla Care Community is a 236-resident long-term care home in Mississauga, Ontario, owned by Sienna Senior Living. It is located next to Trillium Health Partners' Mississauga Hospital. The facility was taken over, temporarily, by the Province of Ontario in May 2020, as a result of extensive deaths from COVID-19.
