Helping Seniors Remain at Home with Home Care

Home care, also called referred to as non medical in home care and personal assistant services (PAS), is elder care that allows seniors with special needs to remain in their home versus moving to a care facility. In home carehelps senior remain at home longer. Home care is suitable for the chronically ill, disabled, someone recovering from surgery or someone who just needs a little assistance to remain in their home vs. moving to a senior care facility. It’s often a lot more affordable too.

Elder care and home care services can include personal care services including medication reminders, bathing, dressing or hair washing as well as homemaking services that can include meal preparation, light housekeeping,laundry, yard work, cooking, grocery shopping or transportation.

Home care can also include elder care services such as companionship, card playing, taking walks, or simply reminiscing. Respite relief for family, transportation, medication reminders, activities, companionship and more are also provided.

Trained and experienced caregivers can provide Texas elder care services wherever ‘home is’ including a personal residence, assisted living facility,nursing home or hospital. Most offer specialized training in caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s as well as Hospice.  There are MANY Texas home care companies to choose from that are licensed, bonded and insured.

Cost of care

The cost of home care varies with two ways to pay for care; private pay or through local state agencies and non profit organizations who pay particular attention to low-income, minority older people and older people residing in rural areas. While they typically do not charge for their assistance, they are often under-staffed, and unable to provide adequate long term planning. They do tend to be highly knowledgeable about local programs.

Cost of Home Care Private Pay: Private pay companies and agencies usually require a minimum of 3 to 4 hours of care per visit. Many will begin services with one visit per week, knowing that seniors are sometimes resistant to start care. Typically a senior who is resistant to care will be open to more hours of service once they experience the benefits of a Caregiver’s visits.

A home care aide will typically visit an individual several times a week for periods lasting from 2-8 hours. The cost of home care nationwide in 2012, the average hourly amount being paid for non-medical home care is $19. The cost of home care in Texas average around $17.00 / hr.

Private individuals (friends, family, volunteers) can also be called upon to provide most of the same services with fees that are 20-30% lower. However, these independents are typically uninsured,do not go through background checks and may be unable to provide alternatives in case they are not available to work on short notice.