Long Term Care Providers

At some point in your life you will probably end up providing some sort of long term care assistance.  Weather it is a parent, an in-law, a relative, or an elderly spouse, someone that is close to you will eventually need long term care assistance.  Regardless of the degree to which you provide care, you are considered a long term care provider.  Providing long term care can include simple tasks such as picking up prescriptions or complex tasks such as monitoring someone who is terminally ill.

Long term care providers fall into one of two categories: informal caregivers and formal caregivers.  Informal caregivers, such as a spouse or child can provide additional care that goes beyond the regular responsibilities of a professional.  Informal caregivers often save the individual a lot of money.  These providers usually take care of their loved ones from the goodness of their hearts.  However, emotional and physical stress can be overwhelming.  Unfortunately, as disability increases, elders receive more and more informal care and may possibly require formal care.  Formal caregivers include social workers, home care aides, and nurses.  These people provide care because they are receiving money to do so.

Long term care can be provided at a number of facilities.  The following chart will attempt to display the types of long term care that can be provided and the corresponding facility at which the long term care is provided.  Obviously at home care is the lowest level of care that can be provided and institutional care is the highest form of long term care that is provided.