Elderly care is different in different countries, depending on their traditional family setups and changing socio-economic character. For instance, the US has a robust nursing home system and options for seniors like memory care homes, while the UK boasts of a staggered care system.
US and Canada
In Canada, the healthcare system is currently stretching its fabric to the maximum. This is because Canadian policies are more about providing drugs than elderly care. Retirees in Canada have to depend on nurses for care, who are already working extra.
Therefore, informal care by adult working children or even grandchildren is not uncommon in Canada. This, however, is stretching the resources for the country as adult workers working as caregivers have to take at least 450 hours off work every year.
In the US, the work culture is different and may even dominate the caregiving responsivity of adult children. Most retirees can be seen in nursing homes where 61% of their expenses are paid off through various insurance. Most of this percentage use a nursing home finder website to find the best type of care for them in their elder years. A lot of importance is placed on finding the right home when expenses have to be paid. For example, if you live in the Lehigh Valley area, Pennsylvania, finding Elder Home Care in Lehigh Valley could prove to be useful when looked for online.
Nursing homes are also private properties run mostly on private insurance funding. Adult children could end up spending $7,000 to $14,000 in caring for their parents. Still, 90% of the elderly confirm that they would rather stay at home than grow old in a nursing home, that is why Senior Care Fort Lauderdale companies, as well as others, are available to those who want to be cared for in their own home.
Italy
In Italy, the tradition is to care for the elderly at home. Many functioning retirees are speeding time as active members of the household. Even if they are ill, they may hardly be sent to nursing homes. Women of the family are responsible for caring for the elderly. Institutions interfere in senior care only if there is no one to take care of the retiree.
In fact, less than 20% of the seniors live in care homes. As women have now started to work, some retirees are using home care services. The number is still low as only 5% seniors use such services. Therefore, the landscape is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Belgium
They are taking a new approach to senior care. Many seniors get informal care from their families. Staggered system of elderly care is also available to the seniors which helps them feel safe and comfortable at home. Seniors may also use service flats where they live in separate apartments but get all these needs taken care of by dedicated caregivers. These service flats work quite like nursing homes, but have a more informal, community apartment like setting.
Germany
The Germans have few very unique ways of caring for the elderly. Here too, seniors prefer to stay in their own homes. Therefore, working age and educated immigrants are being trained for these jobs. This is not all, Germany also has many multigenerational facilities where young families may leave their kids for day care and seniors teach them to play, read and recite. This helps in beating boredom and loneliness as well.
No matter which way we care for the elderly, we have to ensure that they remain healthy-mentally and physically. We need to be more innovative and address emotional wellbeing issues in seniors.
