What is Long-Term Care?

Long-term care services are designed to meet a person’s health and personal care needs, allowing them to live safely and independently in their home. There are a variety of services that would fall under the definition of long-term care. These services include institutional care in nursing facilities or non-institutional care such as home health care, personal care, adult day-care, long-term home health care, respite care and hospice care.

• Home health care
  Services provided in your home and may include skilled nursing care, speech, physical or occupational therapy, and home health aide services.
• Home care (personal care)
  Assistance with personal hygiene, dressing or feeding, nutritional or support functions and health-related tasks.
• Nursing homes
  Residential facilities licensed under the public health law.
• Adult day care
  Provides supervision and other social, recreational, and in some cases, health services during the day, in a group setting outside the home, for those who still live at home.
• Assisted living facilities
  Provides housing and ongoing care services to those unable to perform activities of daily living or who have cognitive impairment.
• Respite care
  Temporary institutional or at-home care of a dependent elderly, ill, or handicapped person, providing relief for their usual caregivers.
• Hospice care
  A care program, either in a hospice care facility or in the home, for persons who are terminally ill and have a life expectancy of six months or less.

People often seek long-term care when they have ongoing frail conditions, or the need can arise suddenly after a stroke or heart attack. The most popular type of long-term care is to assist with the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). The most common reason for long term care is a gradual decline in health, which comes with age and prevents the individual from performing activities of daily living on their own. ADLs include:

• Bathing
  The ability to clean oneself and perform grooming activities like shaving and brushing teeth
• Continence
  The ability to control one’s bladder and bowel functions
• Getting dressed
  The ability to get dressed by oneself without struggling with buttons and zippers
• Eating
  The ability to feed oneself
• Transferring
  Being able to either walk or move oneself from a bed to a wheelchair and back again