Home Health Care Remains A Popular Option for Seniors

An old adage reads, “Home is where the heart is,” but on the senior living front, the saying could just as easily be, “Home is where the health care is,” since more seniors than ever are choosing home health care options to help them manage the challenges of growing older.

“We continue to see an influx of people needing our services, whether it’s the baby boomers or just the fact that there’s more of a desire to receive care at home,” said Quincy Hurst, chief operating officer at Superior Senior Care. “People aren’t waiting until they’re losing a great deal of their independence to hire home health care. I think we’ve done a good job of educating clients not to delay so much on receiving care at home, as they can maintain their independence a lot longer if they start receiving care earlier. As a result, people are starting earlier, even if it’s just in small increments — you know, a little bit of care each week.”

Quincy Hurst

Medical mobility goods manufacturer Meyland-Smith cited in September several statistics that underscore the growing need for home health care in America. It reported there were 57.8 million Americans ages 65 and older in 2022, a number expected to surge to 73 million by 2030, or 21 percent of the population, and reach approximately 78.3 million by 2040, according to the National Council on Aging. Of those, Premier Health Care estimated 70 percent will require care at some point in their lives. Increasingly, home health is the preferred option for receiving that care for a variety of reasons.

“The evolution of care models continues with new options such as continuing care at home programs, co-housing and flexible housing solutions tailored for social connection, autonomy and financial diversity, supporting the trend of aging in place,” wrote Tom Bradford for Meyland-Smith’s website. “This shift has significant implications for culturally competent care, especially among the ‘forgotten middle,’ a demographic that falls between qualification for subsidized care and the affordability of luxury options.”

Hurst said the industry in general and his family-owned company in particular have experienced the growth without appreciably expanding the range of services offered, further illustrating just how many more people there are looking to tap into home health care. How those fundamental services are delivered, however, is always advancing and evolving.

“The core services, for the most part, have remained unchanged. We’re matching caregivers with clients, and they’re delivering one-on-one care. That hasn’t changed a whole lot over the years,” he said. “Things around that have changed, such as technology which has changed a lot in 10 years.

“We use technology for tracking visits and for the benefit of family members who don’t live locally but want a lot more insight into what’s happening with their loved one. We have a portal they can access that provides a lot more insight into services for those who want to keep track of it.”

Market size alone does not fully explain the growth and popularity of home-based health care services. Data also shows there are physical and mental health advantages to receiving such care in familiar surroundings. A USA Today article this summer reported findings of a University of Oxford study that older adults who received care at home had better outcomes than those admitted to hospitals. While acknowledging that hospitals play an important role in some areas of seniors’ health care, author Malana VanTyler said home options are playing a larger role in such situations.

“Besides the risk of hospital-acquired infections, there’s the issue of disconnection … [of] patients who feel removed from their communities, routines and self-control,” she wrote. “This is why many people, especially older adults, are turning to alternatives that allow them to stay at home, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and retain a sense of normalcy.”

If that sounds like something straight out of the home health care industry’s marketing campaign, consider that no less than the American Medical Association agrees with the sentiment that the hospital does not always represent the best option as it once did.

“Ever since Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Hospital in 1751, the nation’s health care focus has been on inpatient settings. That is, up until now,” wrote Andis Robeznieks, senior news writer for the AMA website, noting the familiarity of setting combined with innovations, solutions and technologies were the primary underpinnings of better health outcomes. As one doctor put it for the article, “The hospital is expensive, and no one wants to be there.”

All of that probably helps explain why there are more insurance products on the market than there used to be.

“One thing that’s different now is there’s many more options for people,” said Rianna Rowland, compliance officer at Superior Senior Care. “There’s some Medicare Advantage plans that cover our services, and that’s a relatively new thing. The fact there are a lot more programs out there now that do cover these services, to me, shows that there’s increased need for these services.”

Rianna Rowland

It should be noted that not all home health entities provide the same suite of care. Medical home health care is just that, providing skilled medical care that can dispense medications and perform other therapeutic and skilled nursing care procedures. Nonmedical home health care, sometimes called companion care, is utilized to support seniors who do not need medical care but may require assistance with tasks of daily living such as personal care or bathing. Caregivers also typically perform light housekeeping, provide transportation and serve as companionship. Nonmedical caregivers are not licensed to dispense medications, but they can provide reminders to their clients to take their prescriptions.

Regardless of the form the care takes, home health care done right forms strong affinity and care bonds as caregivers often walk patients through some of the more difficult aspects of getting older.

“I think a lot of people believe that, ‘It’s just companion care,’ because we’re nonmedical when, in fact, we can really be there from the beginning of the journey all the way through to end of life,” said Feather Parrish, operations coordinator at Elder Independence Home Care in Bryant, “wherever the journey leads — from companion care and running errands to taking people to doctor’s appointments to serving patients who are bed bound or even when hospice is in the home.

Feather Parrish

“We also provide resources not just for the person that we’re caring for but also for the family, especially those family members who are caregivers. We’re there to support them, as well as care for their loved one.”

Elder Independence further distinguishes itself in the local market by operating a residential care home, a designated full-time residence for three patients, offering an on-site certified nursing assistant caregiver, a homelike setting and around-the-clock on-call nursing support.

Parrish said the company opened its first residential care home in Little Rock last year and plans on opening more in 2026. She added that the model works because it combines several client benefits and services in a manner that is more affordable and less institutional than other senior living options.

“The residential care home provides a real difference in the market,” she said. “If they lived in an independent living community, there’s no certified nursing assistant or anything like that in that building. If they lived in assisted living, there are CNAs, but the ratio may be one CNA to 15 residents. Even though we’re not providing one-on-one care, it’s never more than 3 to 1, and at certain times of the day, we provide two caregivers to work with three residents, as well as having a [registered nurse] on call 24/7. That ratio is a big deal to families.”

The company is also always on the lookout for innovative ways to better serve its clientele and fill in gaps, Parrish said. Elder Independence also sees beyond its current reach and is looking for ways to bring care to as many families as possible.

“Transportation is a huge need, so we have purchased a transportation van, and we’re looking to expand on that service,” she said. “Another big goal is to form some sort of nonprofit to be a sister organization to Elder Independence so that we can reach some of the families that for financial reasons are not able to utilize our services.

“We do have some resources through Alzheimer’s Arkansas for some limited grants and things like that, but there’s a lot of need out there among people that just financially can’t afford it. We would love to have a nonprofit where we could provide services to some of those people who need it.”

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