Elder Care Options - Comparing the Costs

Move the Parents into Your Home

There are many unseen costs associated with this option. One of them is the moving expenses. If you decide to move your parents out of their home, you will not only need to get rid of a whole bunch of furniture and personal items, you will also most likely want to put the house up for sale. This entire process could put a lot of stress on your loved ones, but it will also cost a lot of time and money. What's worse, the housing market in most parts of the country is at or near record lows for the past decade. This means you're unlikely to get nearly as much for the home as you could if you wait to sell until the market goes higher.

Another cost to moving the parents in with you is time. If you choose this option, you become their primary caregiver. If you are already working and/or have kids to take care of, this could put a big strain on your already busy schedule. In fact, it may force you or your spouse to either cut back to part-time or give up their job entirely.

Put Your Parents into a Nursing Home

We've all heard the horror stories of elderly going off to the nursing home, where they are basically shut off from the outside world. They feel trapped-like they're in a prison-and lonely. The stress of the situation tends to create more health problems. Even aside from the "human" cost, this is a very expensive option financially as well. We've already talked about the moving costs, but now that they're in the nursing home, the expenses can quickly eat up their remaining assets. All in all, there is very little upside to the nursing home option.

Choose In Home Senior Care for your Parents

The third and best elder care option for your aging parent is in home care. There are several reasons why this is the case:

1) The Financing Costs are Lower Than Other Options

While senior in home care is not cheap, it's still a lower cost option than the alternatives. One of the biggest reasons is it allows the aging loved one to stay in their present home. Right away that saves on a myriad of expenses (both time and money) for moving to your home or a nursing facility. It also saves you the trouble of putting the house up for sale when the market is bad. Furthermore, the cost of in home elder care is far less than a nursing home. Finally, because your parents will still be in their house, you can use it to finance the in home care using a method like a reverse mortgage.

2) Plans are Flexible and Tailored to the Individual

If you ship your parents off to some large and impersonal hospital or nursing home, your parents will never get the individual attention they need. Nothing against nursing homes, they do the best with what they have, but they are simply not structured in a way that they can cater to the individual. With an in home senior care agency, you'll have a plan customized to fit the needs of your parents, which will insure that they are receiving the proper care to address their specific health concerns.

3) Provides Much Needed Companionship

Quality of life is a big issue among older people. When the elderly feel lonely, their quality of life suffers. A great advantage of in home care is that a qualified nurse will not only care for your aging parents, they will also be their friend. The nurse can check in with them as often as you like and make sure everything is okay, as well as visit with them for a while.

With this kind of individual attention, your parents are sure to enjoy a much greater quality of life in their their retirement years and will have you to thank.

At Senior Helpers of NJ, we provide the seniorhelpersnj.com/about-us.cfm best senior care New Jersey has to offer. It is our greatest pleasure to give our clients the assistance they need to safely live at home where they belong. We ensure that our clients receive affordable, dependable care that helps them live dignified, independent lives.