North Carolina Long Term Care

Long-term care is actually a wide range of different services and support groups that you might end up needing at some point to handle your personal care requirements.

Most of the time, this type of care isn’t medical care. It is actually just assistance with the normal tasks that you do in everyday life. Some of those activities include:

• Dressing
• Bathing
• Transferring to your chair or bed
• Using the restroom
• Eating
• Taking care of incontinence issues

Beyond the issues listed above, some of the other services provided by long-term care workers are assistance with your everyday tasks that you do in your normal life.

• Managing your finances
• Housework
• Preparing meals and handling the clean-up afterwards
• Assistance with taking any necessary medications
• Shopping for clothing, groceries or other household necessities
• Taking care of your pets
• Help using the phone or other methods of communication
• Responding to any emergency alert

It is always advisable to compare policies before making any decisions. Use our FREE search tool above to make sure you are getting the best coverage for your needs!

How do I know if Long-Term Care is right for me?

Even though you might not think that you are going to need long-term care down the road, there are more people who end up using the services than you might think. In fact, 70 % of all those who are 65 or older end up using these services during their lifetime.

To help you determine whether this care is right for you or not, consider some of the following factors:

• Age – Sure, you might not need assistance when you are younger, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t going to need help when you grow older. The older an individual is, the greater the chance they are going to end up needing long-term care down the road.
• Gender – While many people don’t think gender is a factor, it is. Women tend to live five years longer than what men do, so they tend to end up living alone later on in their life. Because of this, they often turn to someone who can help address their needs and allow them to live a normal life.
• Disability – Even though you might not think you will ever be in an accident or get sick to the point where you can’t care for yourself any longer, it does happen. When in that type of situation, you can turn to a long-term care worker to help you in your time of need. You might not realize it, but there are as many as 8 % of all individuals who are between 40 and 50 that end up needing long-term care due to a disability. By the time people hit 90, the number skyrockets to 69 %.
• Living Arrangements – For those who are single, widowed or divorced, you often find that you need someone to help you out around the house. When you are married or living with someone else, you tend to have someone there who can help you when you need it. Because of the nature of living without assistance, you often need to turn to someone who can help with your needs.
• Health Status – Even though you might think you are as healthy as an ox now, that can change at any time. You could end up with high blood pressure or diabetes that requires you to have someone around you and monitoring your health on a regular basis. Depending on your genetics, the chance of you getting one of these conditions could increase significantly. Not eating right and remaining stationary also play a key role in whether you are going to need additional assistance or not.

Figuring Out the Level of Care Needed

Since no two people are the same, it is difficult to determine how long someone is going to need long-term care for. As you grow older and your health changes, so could your needs for assistance.

Regardless of what your situation might be right now, that could change at any point in time. The best thing you can do is try to remain as healthy and active as you can to prevent your health from declining.

On average, women are said to need care longer than what men do. This could be in part to the fact that women tend to outlive their male counterpart. While that isn’t guaranteed, it does correlate to the data at hand. Anyone who is age 65 or older has close to a 70 % chance of needing long-term care.

Whether that care comes at age 75 or age 90, the vast majority of individuals end up needing help with something down the road.

Roughly, 33 % of all older individuals won’t ever have to worry about getting long-term assistance. For some, this might be because they have a spouse or significant other at home that helps them. Others might have a family member around who can help.

Many others are just healthy enough to handle their needs on their own. However, there are 20 % of all individuals who go on to need care for longer than five years.

Where You Can Go for Care

If you are in a situation where you are in need of long-term care for yourself or for someone you love, you are probably trying to figure out where to go for help. While everyone has their own opinion of what might be best for them, there are a few different options available from which you can choose.

• Many areas have adult day services available to them.
• Look into a long-term care facility in the area near you.
• Home health care aides, therapists and nurses can come to your home and deliver the care you need.
• Some individuals use their friends and family members to deliver the level of care needed when they cannot afford to pay someone to come into their home.

Only you can determine who is going to be the best caregiver to accommodate your needs and specific situation. Caregivers can be anyone from your spouse to your friend, neighbor, family member and so on.

The main thing is that these individuals are going to provide you with the level of care you need in your home. Roughly, 80 % of all those using a caregiver in their home is done by someone who isn’t getting paid. Their jobs often include nursing duties, homemaking, financial services, emotional support and more.

Caregivers often spend at least 20 hours per week taking care of these individuals. A little more than half of these individuals often have to assist with other duties such as feeding the individual or bathing them.

Most of the time, caregivers are women. With one in every four adults being an unpaid caregiver for a family member, the number of people who need assistance continues to rise with each passing year. Generally speaking, the majority of individuals who need care can go on to live for quite some time in the comfort of their own home all because they have a friend or family member helping them out.

Finding a Long-Term Care Company to Assist You

If you don’t have a loved one who can help and you need someone to take care of you in your time of need, you can always turn to a long-term care company for assistance. One of the first things you need to do is spend time searching through all of the different providers and comparing what they have to offer you.

Compare prices to see who is going to offer you the best deal. However, you don’t want to just choose someone because they are cheap.

You should also spend time researching which company is capable of taking care of your loved one. You need someone who specializes in the type of care they need. Don’t hire just anyone; choose a company that offers a level of care and compassion that you would want for yourself.

Since your loved one is important to you, it is important that you take your time in choosing someone to care for them. Don’t rush into the decision; you could end up regretting it later on down the road. You want someone who can help them, not someone who is going to end up causing them more harm than what it’s worth.

All in all, the situation is one that requires patience and a willingness to do your homework before settling on a provider.

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