We all await milestones in our younger years, like getting a driver’s license or graduating high school. Those are exciting times, but later in life, we can become overwhelmed or perhaps even dread what aging may have in store for us.
The good news is that aging can be enjoyable with the right daily support and healthcare. It’s all about prevention, and outpatient therapy is one of the best preventive measures.
Preventative Therapy
Many people think they have to be recovering from an illness or surgery to qualify, but thankfully, those are not the only reasons. You could be eligible for outpatient therapy if you’re feeling weak, losing balance, or having falls—or even close calls! Therapy can help you work to prevent a fall.
By avoiding a fall, you could be saving yourself from a serious setback. Injuries from falls can result in ER visits, hospitalizations, and nursing home stays. One fall can increase the risk of leaving the home where you’re most comfortable. A therapy evaluation can evaluate your balance and strength and determine if you qualify for outpatient therapy services.
Along with this evaluation, therapists may also visit your home to assess your surroundings and identify any risks that increase your chances of falling. They may recommend making changes to enhance access to areas of your home or small additions like grab bars to keep you safe.
Home Health Services
You may achieve a better outcome by combining home health services and outpatient therapy. Home health offers a registered nurse to visit your home to provide help according to your goals.
If you need education to manage a new diagnosis or an ongoing health condition such as diabetes, home health visits can help you prevent unwanted setbacks. Managing life-limiting health conditions can put significant demands on anyone. The travel time alone to pharmacies and clinics and navigating waiting rooms to get care and consultation can feel like a full-time job. Home health can add a layer of convenience to allow you time to rest and return to feeling better versus going into a clinic setting for every treatment.
From dietary education from a registered dietician to receiving IV fluids under your own roof, home health can be a helpful investment in your future. The more your health is managed or, better yet, stabilized, the less likely you will require frequent clinic and ER visits or hospitalizations.
Prepare For the Changing Seasons
As you prepare for the “ber” months this year (September, October, November, and December), consider what would help you stay well this winter. Cold days, snow, and ice can reduce activity levels. Instead of losing strength this season, think about how adding a home health service or two could help you to maintain or improve your abilities.
Connect with us if you think home health services could be right for you or a loved one. Simply reaching out to discuss concerns and needs is just that; it does not guarantee services, but talking through it can provide peace of mind to know if it might be time. We are also happy to help our patients explore insurance coverage to relieve any worries that home health services will cost too much.
Contact us at info@caringedge.com. We’re here to help those on the road of aging to have peace of mind!
July is meant for the social butterflies! From Family Reunion and Picnic Month to Social Wellness Month, it’s time for those who like to visit to shine.
What do social events have in common with home health, outpatient therapy, or hospice services? Staying social is tough if you’re not feeling well enough to enjoy conversations!
All three services help patients feel the very best that they can. That could mean more meaningful visits with those you love. It might be hard for folks to grasp this idea, especially with a service like hospice, so let’s explain what each service truly has to offer.
Hospice: Hospice offers enhanced medical oversight outside of a hospital; the hospice team visits patients wherever they call home. With this added support in their preferred setting, patients utilizing hospice may be more likely to want to socialize (if their illness allows) than if they were in a hospital setting with visitor restrictions.
A common myth about hospice is that it overmedicates patients, so they are not alert enough to communicate with family and loved ones. Hospice works to add comfort and minimize pain. However, it controls discomfort in a way that allows patients to be as alert as possible.
Pain is not a normal part of dying, but it can be a part of the disease that’s causing the patient’s death. Fatigue and additional sleeping can also be part of the dying process. While hospice supports those facing the end of their lives, it also intends to make the final days, weeks, or months of a patient’s life as comfortable as possible.
Home Health Services: Patients may utilize home health care following an injury, illness, or a new diagnosis or while they manage a long-term condition. It allows them to have support to stay safe and independent. Patients who feel their best are more likely to maintain their social lives.
Home health nurses can manage medications, educate patients and their families about their conditions, and help them maintain their ability to complete tasks at home. They can also evaluate patients to determine if therapy could help. Home health can help patients avoid experiencing health setbacks that result in hospitalization, frequent visits to the ER, or stays in a nursing home.
Outpatient Therapy Services: Use it or lose it! That’s the main takeaway from physical and occupational therapies.
It’s much easier to see friends and loved ones when we can move freely and safely toward their embrace or easily get in and out of vehicles to reach their front doors.
Once someone has been hospitalized or immobile for a long period, it can take some work to regain strength. If patients maintain stability and reduce their risk of falling, they are more likely to maintain their abilities.
Speech and language pathologists, or SLPs, can provide speech therapy services to help those who have experienced neurological conditions, such as strokes or forms of dementia. Through this branch of therapy, SLPs help patients maintain their ability to converse by teaching them to talk louder and slower or how to follow a sequence of events. Following ordered sequences, such as recipes, is important to manage everyday life.
Who Qualifies for Health Services at Home?
This is a very interesting question, and the best way we can answer it is to help you explore your coverage! Medicare, Medicaid, and many insurance companies pay for home health and hospice.
Hospice has very specific requirements, one of which is that the patient’s diagnosis could result in their passing away within six months. If a hospice patient uses the services for six months, they can re-qualify, or if they’ve improved, they may no longer qualify. It can be surprising how many common diagnoses could qualify patients for hospice care, which is why we’re willing to help patients explore what services might be best for them at home.
No matter your health needs, you don’t have to manage them alone. Contact us today at info@caringedge.com to explore how healthcare services at home can help you achieve your goals.
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