Elderly care can be difficult to provide for your aging loved ones, especially when you work, live far away, and have children that require care and attention. As their needs and demands increase, you can’t always offer the 24/7 care they require at home. You may try to schedule regular visits from caregivers and family members to attend to their needs. However, a decline in physical or cognitive functions or a change in a situation where one parent now lives alone may prompt you to consider round-the-clock care.

Elderly Care is a Simple Phone Call Away with Visiting Angels Mid-Maine Servicing Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Orono, Old Town, and the Surrounding Areas.

Live-in and 24-hour home care can ensure a caregiver is available to address any personal needs – and provide senior companion care - day and night in their own home. Companionship is known to improve seniors’ moods and stave off loneliness and isolation that can lead to depression, as one in three older adults lack companionship, with many feeling isolated.

Home Care for the Elderly in Their Own Homes

Sometimes, assisted living care provided by you or a reputable home care agency is not enough as seniors age.

Signs that indicate a switch to 24/7 care at home include:

• Increased signs of bruising that indicate falls or trips
• Wetting the bed or other accidents due to an inability to make it to the bathroom on their own
• Greater reliance on assistive equipment
• Wandering around and away from the home
• Increased confusion due to advancing dementia
• Feeling isolated or overwhelmed caring for themselves alone
• Assistance to drink or eat
• A recent move from rehabilitation or a hospital visit
• Decreased agility and/or mobility due to a stroke or chronic condition
• A move by family or friends who provided care

The Difference Between Live-in and 24-Hour Care

While live-in and 24-hour caregivers may seem redundant, terms of elderly care are different for each. Understanding the difference will help determine the best choice for a senior’s specific circumstance.

LIVE-IN CARE

Live-in caregivers stay in the home day and night to perform duties outlined in the care plan. One caregiver could work during the week and another on the weekends. Live-in caregivers are provided an 8-hour break and a sleeping bed to rest.

24-HOUR HOME CARE

Two or more caregivers rotate shifts to ensure someone is always awake and available day and night to help the client when elderly care is needed.

What is the Most Appropriate Option for Elderly Care?

When your loved one needs live-in care, they should do so if they meet the following criteria:

• Requires minimal aid in sleeping through the night
• Does not require the prevention of roaming or other potentially dangerous activities without requiring constant observation.
• 24-Hour Care is appropriate when your elderly loved one:
• Inability to walk or represent harm to themselves.
• Is frequently awake during the night or exhibits indications of "sundowners’ syndrome" — a condition in which an individual becomes more active or disturbed as the evening approaches.

Seniors recovering from surgery or who have recently returned from rehab may find that live-in or 24-hour care is an excellent interim answer. It also allows you or other family members to take a much-needed break or vacation, knowing that your elderly loved one is safe and secure at home.

Learn More About Our Senior Care Services

Visiting Angels home care provides essential elderly care assistance on an hourly, overnight, 24-hour, and respite care basis. Care plans include a variety of services that attend to personal care, hygiene, housekeeping, personal hygiene, meal preparation, transportation, medication reminders, and more. Visiting Angels Mid-Maine even offers certified palliative care programs, dementia care, and Alzheimer’s care.

Contact our Bangor, ME office by clicking the link below and contacting our agency today!