Who Needs Long-Term Care?
Considering long-term care can be an important step in a person’s health and well-being journey. To understand who can benefit from receiving long term care, it’s important to define what long term care is.
What is Long-Term Care?
Long-term care (LTC), is an umbrella term referring to any services helping a person with their personal care or health needs on a long-term basis if they cannot perform them independently due to aging, illness, or disability. Also sometimes called long-term services and supports (LTSS), these services can be medical or personal-assistance support, usually provided for months or years.
As the National Institute on Aging states, long-term care can be provided in a variety of places by different care providers, from in-home personal assistance to residential skilled nursing. While some people under age 65 benefit from long-term care, the majority are aged 65 and up, receiving care and services helping them live as safely and independently as possible.
Long-term care extends beyond the acute care someone would receive in a hospital, for example. It takes place on a long-term timeframe; more than a few weeks of care during postoperative recovery, as another example.
Who Needs LTC?
So, who needs this type of care? The simple answer is: any individual who needs support for more than a few weeks to perform daily life activities can benefit from long-term care.
Activities of daily living consist of basic essential actions to keep a body functioning: eating, bathing/hygiene, dressing, moving from place to place, and toileting or caring for incontinence.
When is the Right Time for LTC?
How to know when it’s time and what support is needed varies by individual needs and preferences, but there are tools and resources available to help people decide. Organizations such as your local ADRC or your state or county’s Department of Health Services or Aging can offer you abundant information. Websites such as Medicare.gov, the Eldercare Locator, and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) provide a plethora of information and resources.
If you’re considering senior living, which could include active adult independent living, or any level of long-term care, such as assisted living or skilled nursing, you can take our quick quiz from the comfort of your couch to determine if it’s the right time.
At the end of the day, becoming informed is the first step to a happy, healthy, long life of well-being. If we can ever be a resource to you, don’t hesitate to contact us–one of our trusted experts would love to help!
