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Elderly care or elder care broadly includes services like assisted living, adult day care, long term care, nursing homes, hospice care, and Alzheimer's care. The term caregiver refers to any individual who is capable of providing assistance to elderly people who need care and assistance to maintain an optimal level of subsistence. It puts emphasis on the social and personal requirements of senior citizens. In extended families the concept of elder care was mostly family based. Now with the nuclear family concept the elder care perspective has changed and new role players have emerged in this domain. Now the governments, the family, the hospitals and nursing homes, trained and skilled volunteers are all capable of providing care in different ways.Caregivers may or may not live with the care recipient. In most developed countries, the majority of elderly care facilities are self-supporting. They are continuing-care retirement community, senior’s apartment complex, or wing or floor of a nursing home available for such purposes. Who are the caregivers? About 15 percent of U.S. adults care for a seriously ill or disabled family member. Women mostly provide Caregiving. Nearly three out of four caregivers are female. An average caregiver is 46-57 years old. An estimated 85 percent of caregivers are related to the care recipient. The primary caregivers are generally spouse, adult children, and typically adult daughters. Older generations also care for younger generation i.e. their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Care giver Jobs There are different types of caregiver jobs. A voluntary caregiver is an informal service provider mostly unpaid spouse, relative, neighbour, friend of a disable person or child. These caregivers provide care at night, over weekends, and on demand. Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) is intended for those individuals who require assistance with activities like bathing, toileting, ambulating, self-administration of medications etc. Assisted Living or Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) usually refers to a non-institutionalized facility that is used by people who unable to live on their own, but do not need the continuous care from hospitals or nursing home. A nursing home or a skilled nursing facility provide residential medical and personal care to the elderly people with physical disabilities A hospice care or palliative care normally refers to treating illness of terminal nature. It is "an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness.’’ In home, Live-in and Live-out caregivers help with shopping, transportation, and housework, meal preparation etc. A caregiver agency is instrumental in identifying and supplying skilled professionals to the families/individuals. They also help administer medications and activities for entertaining the care recipient. These tasks are known as instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Entitlements In home caregivers provide unpaid assistance seven days a week. On average, caregivers provide personal care assistance and household maintenance chores for 18 hours a week. Most of them provide round-the-clock care. Time spent care giving varies by type of impairment. In some cases it is a full time job. They are entitled to basic minimum wages, public holidays, compensatory leaves and medical coverage. EldercareCoordinaror.org- FREE eldercare coordination in 50 states. Your best source for direct-hire caregivers, senior discounts, local geriatric services and senior care facilities. We take care of your eldercare! http://www.eldercarecoordinator.org/
Article Source: http://www.thehealthmanual.com
www.eldercarecoordinator.org/
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