Long Term Care

Long term care is essentially assistance that is provided for individuals who are experiencing debilitating conditions that prevent them from caring for themselves for extended periods. The kinds of assistance that long term care offers can be medical or non-medical; their purpose is mainly to maintain a certain quality of life for persons who are suffering from such unfortunate conditions. Non-medical assistance includes custodial services – people who are stationed round the clock at a person’s home to assist them with the basics of everyday living such as bathing, dressing, and other processes of hygiene. Medical assistance involves the employment of assistants who are licensed to be able to administer necessary medication (pills, IV drips, injections, and the like). Long term care is typically offered to the elderly individuals suffering from illness, whose bodies are more prone to injury than younger individuals. This does not mean, however, that long term care is not available to patients that are younger – provided that their illness is terminal or chronic, as well as debilitating.

Long term care is also offered as part of life income insurance; these are, of course, for insurance policies that focus on handling events wherein a person would suffer from a condition in such a way that he or she will no longer be able to handle mundane everyday tasks, much less keep a job.