How Home Care Can Prevent Hospital Readmission for Seniors

The United States spent more than $2.6 trillion in healthcare in 2010, which puts us ahead of any other nation. Research illustrates that uncoordinated care, unnecessary care, and avoidable care are major causes of this astronomical number.1  In order to cut down unnecessary healthcare spending, it’s important to focus on avoiding rehospitalization for patients. If your senior has recently spent time in the hospital, you want to do everything you can to prevent them from winding up back there at a later date. One way to do this is by bringing in an experienced home care professional to assist them.

How does home care help?

Elder care professionals explain that seniors are often discharged from the hospital before they are fully ready to return home. They come home, often to a place where they live alone, and try to go about the tasks of daily living. Because of weakness, fatigue, balance issues, and other problems leftover from their hospital stay, they often end up reinjuring themselves or getting ill again, thus landing them right back in the hospital.

Proper home care can prevent this tragic situation from occurring. Instead of having to try to clean the house, carry groceries in, and get in and out of the shower alone, a professional is there to assist your senior. This takes the burden off of your elderly parent, and helps to keep them safe from reinjury or further illness. 

According to those who work in home care, Durham families can help prevent their elderly loved ones from winding up back in the hospital by investing in home care for them. It doesn’t matter whether you have someone come in daily or a few times each week. This additional help and support can make all of the difference necessary to preserve your senior’s health and independence. 

A person who works in home care can attend to a number of different tasks that your elderly parent needs to complete to stay healthy. When they no longer have to worry about the physical demands of these necessary chores, they feel much more relaxed and there is a significant amount of strain taken off of them physically. As an added bonus, proper home health care can prevent your elderly loved one from having to move into an assisted living facility. With this kind of professional assistance, they can enjoy their independence while preserving their health and safety. 

1http://www.interimhealthcare.com/Franchise-Sites/carolinas/Blog/June-2013/In-Home-Care-Prevent-Hospital-Readmissions