But here’s the good news…just as it is for every age, phase, and stage of life, there’s also some terrific benefits that come with all these candles on the cake.
The benefits? Things like perspective—to recognize what matters most in life, experience—realizing a lifetime of living has brought with it innumerable skills and finely developed talents, and wisdom—wisdom that likely wouldn’t have registered on your radar in your 20s, 30s, and 40s, but that now guides your every day.
And yet…despite these many intangibles of such tremendous value, it seems limitations of one sort or another seem to creep in almost imperceptibly.
Aging, as the saying goes, “is not for sissies.”
Aging well and optimally is oftentimes tempered by so many variables—so many variables. Habits of a lifetime (for better or worse), mental and physical well-being, and social connectedness with family and friends all have a significant impact on how an individual’s senior years play out. However, there’s one other factor that has an absolutely tremendous role in a senior citizen’s quality of life that is often not given sufficient consideration.
That factor? Where and how they live.
At Mom’s Best Friend Senior & Elder Care, we’ve seen that seniors overwhelmingly prefer to remain in their home whenever possible especially when their primary options are limited to moving to a retirement community or worse, a nursing facility. From our 20+ years of highly specialized experience in providing in-home senior care, we have seen time after time that when seniors are allowed to age in place, they don’t just exist from day to day, they are much more inclined to thrive exceedingly well.
To be clear, there are lots of supporting reasons for this dramatic variance from simply surviving to all-out thriving, but in every instance, it can be reduced to one specific variable—individuals are much more inclined when they receive specialized care—not generic, good-for-the-group, simpler-for-the-staff collective care, but highly specialized, intensely individualized, one-on-one care tailored specifically to a senior’s needs, wants, and what best enables the most independent and consistent lifestyle possible.
The Misconceptions
Like anything on the internet these days, you can find supporting studies and research to defend whatever your stance or belief; in-home care versus institutionalized care is no exception, but at Mom’s Best Friend Senior & Elder Care, we are quick to recognize real-life experience, heartfelt relationships, and caregivers who transcend the check-the-box standards are what is most important in delivering care for our valued senior clients. And yet, despite so much empirical and experiential data, we know there still remains those who are skeptical, those who doubt the feasibility of in-home care for their loved one, and those who simply have lots of unanswered questions about what we believe is the overwhelming best alternative for many seniors wanting to remain in their home for as long as possible.
As a starting point and as a means to address some of these concerns and questions, our Senior Care Specialists at Mom’s Best Friend Senior & Elder Care present some of the most common misconceptions regarding in-home care alongside our soundest, most enduring experiences in caring for senior citizens.
1. Myth: In-home care is only suitable for seniors who are incapacitated or very sick.
The truth – In-home care is ideally suited for seniors of all capability levels. Even the most able-bodied senior may not want to bother with the traffic to run errands, the crowds at the grocery store, or the details of home upkeep. In-home care is available across a very broad spectrum of services including companionship, housekeeping and laundry, medication management, and more.
Because every in-home care situation is tailored to the individual’s specific needs, no unnecessary or unwanted services are provided or paid for.
2. Myth: In-home care means the client is sacrificing his/her independence.
The truth – The inverse is actually true for most of our MBF senior in-home clients. By allowing our care professionals to provide the services that are needed, our seniors are better able to remain in their home longer and freer to do what they want to do versus what is more challenging for them. There’s time for hobbies and special interests, family and friends, and social opportunities when home maintenance, meal prep, and other details of daily life are handled by someone else. When seniors are free to tend to the responsibilities they can do and still enjoy doing, it fosters a sense of autonomy and continued independence. This translates to a dramatically improved mental outlook and is a powerful tool against cognitive decline and depression. Furthermore, in-home care allows for complete independence in terms of maintaining relationships with family and friends. When seniors are allowed to come and go on their own schedule and have visitors in their home when they want, the benefits are significant. Without a schedule of meals and activities imposed by others or designated visiting times and days, our senior clients are more empowered to have guests on their time schedule, eat when is best for them, and pursue interests whenever they like. The impact of this well-earned independence to remain in their home as long as possible spills over into so many aspects of our seniors’ lives and in so many positive ways.
3. Myth: In-home care is super expensive; only a luxury for the wealthy.
The truth – In-home care is very frequently more affordable than the all-inclusive pricing plans at most retirement/nursing facilities. Again, because clients only pay for what they need, there are no unnecessary expenses added on. Just by their nature, retirement homes and nursing facilities have to price many of their services on an all-inclusive scale even when minimal services are required. When much more comprehensive services are required, occasionally corporate care can be more economical, but especially for seniors in the early-to-mid-stages of needing a bit of assistance, in-home care can be significantly less expensive.
4. Myth: It’s the family’s responsibility to care for their aging loved ones; paying someone else to do it is a cop-out.
The truth – While many of us view caring for our older family members as our inherent responsibility/privilege, how your senior is cared for can take on many different options. The important thing to remember is that there are no absolutes, no definitive best ways, no one-size-fits-all answer for how to best care for our elderly. What serves your older person best and is most acceptable to the affected family members is the best solution for you and your family. By allowing professional in-home care to tend to necessary needs, family members are free to enjoy their elder family member without the encumbrances of tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and bathing complicating the relationship. This alone can allow lifelong relationships to remain respectful, dignified, and as they’ve always been without a shift in family dynamics. Additionally, the consistency of care of a professional or a unified professional team (with a designated point person) is tremendously important for seniors’ well-being. When care is scheduled, coordinated, and highly intentional, everyone does better. Expectations are set, routines are established (and highly relied upon), and there are minimal surprises—all significant benefits that can help seniors live better, longer, and happier and their engaged family members rest easier.
Aging, in and of itself, has its own set of challenges both for the older individual and also for family members concerned about their long-term well-being. The whole process can sometimes appear to be one complicated decision after another. One decision affects so many others—other people, other costs, other needs. It’s not unusual to be overwhelmed by so many variables, so many feelings, and the (hopefully) well-intended opinions of so many others. It can be hard on your head, heart, and life overall.
At Mom’s Best Friend Senior & Elder Care, we’ve walked this road in our own families and with hundreds of other families over the last 20+ years. We understand the fears and worries; the cares and concerns, and that tricky intersection of differing family dynamics. We’ve navigated just about every scenario possible and have consistently provided aging seniors and their families with in-home care professionals that go above and beyond in caring for those entrusted to them. We recognize it is a sacred ask to invite someone into your home and into your life or that of a loved one; we know it can seem like a tremendous leap of faith to allow someone to become so intricately and intimately involved in a family’s life; and we know that at the heart of every placement is a foundation of trust—trust in the process, trust in our caregivers, and trust in the standards that guide our company.
Our guiding principles are, and have always been, to make every placement as carefully and thoughtfully as if were for our own family. This principle up against the highest of professional standards has served us incredibly well and allowed us to serve our clients remarkably well. At Mom’s Best Friend Senior & Elder Care, every client presents an opportunity to serve. Our team would consider it a privilege to help meet your needs regarding in-home care for yourself or a loved one in a uniquely tailored and highly personalized plan for today and for years to come. Our services are available across the DFW Metroplex, in cities like Dallas, Highland Park, University Park, Plano, Frisco, Southlake, Flower Mound, Argyle, and more.
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