Long-term Care and Skilled Nursing
Next week from May 12-18, 2019 Royal Suites Healthcare and Rehabilitation will be participating in the National Skilled Nursing care Week (NSNCW). The NSNCW 2019 theme, “Live Soulfully,” will celebrate skilled nursing facilities, their residents and staff and will showcase how they gain happy minds and healthy souls. Established as an annual, week-long observance by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) in 1967, NSNCW provides an opportunity to recognize the role of skilled nursing care centers in caring for America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities. Whether it is planting seeds in a garden, cooking, reading or listening to music, these skilled nursing centers help people to find happiness and improve quality of life.
Long-term Care
Long-term care is necessary when a person can no longer carry out every-day activities on their own and live independently. This may be the aftermath of a disabling illness, a stroke, a serious accident or when they have become frailer from aging or a chronic or progressive illness. Advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may also need long-term skilled nursing care.
Risks for Needing Long-term Care
- Aging and the risk for needing long-term care increases with every advancing year.
- Women are at a higher risk than men, mainly because they usually live longer than men.
- Single people are more likely than married people to need long-term care.
- Poor dietary eating habits, smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages and a sedentary lifestyle may lead to medical conditions that will end up in long-term care
- A family history of medical conditions that can lead to long-term care
Long-term Care in a Skilled Nursing Home
Long-term care in a skilled nursing home is mainly for people who need full-time care and whose family members are unable to provide it. A residential skilled nursing facility can provide the following:
Personal Care
Personal care is help with everyday activities or “activities of daily living” such as help with:
- Taking medicines
- Using the toilet
- Bathing and showering
- Dressing
- Putting on shoes
- Tying shoe laces
- Grooming like combing and brushing hair, brushing teeth
- Eating and drinking
- Getting in and out of bed or on or off a chair or wheel chair.
Nursing Care
Nursing care may cover a wide range of medical needs such as:
- Diabetes monitoring and care
- Gastrostomy care
- Tracheotomy care
- Post-stroke
Rehabilitation Therapeutic Services
Most people entering long-term care will need some or all of the following:
- Physical therapy
- Speech therapy
- Occupational therapy
Some skilled nursing care facilities also provide innovative forms of therapy such as:
- Recreational therapy
- Music therapy
- Art therapy
- Pet therapy
24-hour Supervision for Safety
Three Meals a Day
Other Services
Some skilled nursing facilities also offer other services such as:
- Palliative care
- Hospice care
- Memory care units for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
- Respite care
Long-term Skilled Nursing Care at Royal Suites Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Galloway Township, New Jersey
Royal Suites Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Galloway Township, New Jersey offers long-term skilled nursing care at its best at the hands of a warm and caring staff. Royal Suites also has a large enough number of staff members per resident, so your loved one will get the very best of attention and care. Besides being in a beautiful location surrounded by eight acres of woods and landscaped gardens, Royal Suites has a special memory impaired unit for people suffering from memory loss and Alzheimer’s dementia. Read more about memory care at Royal Suites in our blog post from May 29, 2018.
Conclusion
Since aging increases the risk for needing long-term skilled nursing care, it would be best to begin planning ahead for this possibility.