Long term care is based at different types of services that are provided for an array of different people. Such services can include anything from providing medical care such as dispensing medications, providing wound care or physical rehabilitation, to more basic day-to-day care including help with bathing, getting dressed, feeding, and providing emotional support and comfort. It is a level of care that is provided for a lengthy period of time that includes a holistic outlook to meet the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of each patient or resident.
There are a variety of different types of long term care. Majority of these were explained through the Final Horizions, Inc. page on web courses. Some of the more popular types that were listed include nursing homes, adult daycare centers, and home health care agencies. I was lucky to have hands on learning experience in each of these three different long term care categories.
To me, long term care means knowing that the elderly of this society are being taken care of in ways that their own families might not able to. It means that a unique quality of services is being offered to take care of our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. It means no longer have to worry about whether or not their basic human needs and rights as individuals are being met.
As a provider of long term care, it means that I play a role in bettering the quality of life for these people. I can be both a care taker and a companion and provide not only physical support to assist in daily activities, but mental and spiritual support as well. I can make the difference in someone’s life.
Long term care is an important part of our society because it is always needed, whether it be a nursing home for a parent or grandparent that can no longer independently go about their daily activities to meet their basic needs, or a home health care agency that provides in-house care to those who are not able to commute for healthcare. Our society is constantly growing older and everyone ages. Although today it may be a family member or friend who depends on the services of long term care, tomorrow it could be any of us. Maybe today, long term care may mean a job to help pay my bills and a service that i provide to others, but one day it could mean a service that I rely on to meet the needs I can no longer meet on my own.
