Long-term care - LTC is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical need of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods of time.
(prHWY.com) February 25, 2011 - California, CA -- Best Choice LTC
Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical need of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods of time.
It is common for long-term care to provide custodial and non-skilled care, such as assisting with normal daily tasks like dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. Increasingly, long term care involves providing a level of medical care that requires the expertise of skilled practitioners to address the often multiple chronic conditions associated with older populations. Long-term care can be provided at home, in the community, in assisted living or in nursing homes. Long-term care may be needed by people of any age, even though it is a common need for senior citizens.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that about nine million men and women over the age of 65 in the US will need long-term care in 2006. By 2020, 12 million older Americans will need long-term care. It is anticipated that most will be cared for at home; family and friends are the sole caregivers for 70 percent of the elderly. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that four out of every ten people who reach age 65 will enter a nursing home at some point in their lives.[1] About 10 percent of the people who enter a nursing home will stay there five years or more.
Service and support needs vary from one person to the next and often change over time. Women need care for longer (on average 3.7 years) than do men (on average 2.2 years). If you need long-term care, you may need one or more of the following:
* Care or assistance with activities of daily living in your home from an unpaid caregiver who can be a family member or friend;
* Services at your home from a nurse, home health/home care aide, therapist, or homemaker;
* Care in the community; and/or
* Care in any of a variety of long-term facilities.
Generally, services provided by caregivers who are family or friends are unpaid. This is sometimes called informal care. Paid services are sometimes referred to as formal services. Paid services often supplement the services provided by family and friends.
Website:
http://www.bestchoiceltc.com
###