- In the US, there’s over 15,000 nursing homes
- As of 2020, around 27% of senior housing communities in the US were majority nursing care, whilst 26% were assisted living dublin oh
Right now, senior care is more important than ever before – particularly for baby boomers.
Life expectancy is up, meaning the elderly are living for much longer. Of course, this naturally means that more of them are going into nursing homes to enjoy the final years of their lives, whilst many others are seeking the services of concierge nurses who then visit their homes during the day to look after them.
These are interesting times for senior care – and there are lots of trends appearing that you need to know about.
To learn more, here are some of the most important senior care trends currently going on.
Low-Profile Nursing Beds
In nursing homes in particular, low-profile beds are becoming increasingly popular.
This is because they improve safety (there’s less chance of falling off the bed), sleep quality, and overall mobility. Therefore, many nursing homes and care providers are choosing low profile beds, as they benefit all parties.
Moving forward, it’s expected that low profile beds will become the norm for seniors – especially those with physical problems. If you run a nursing home, it’s highly recommended that you get some low-profile beds from medical-supermarket.com.
Fall Alarms
For senior people, moving around is often quite difficult. As a result, falls are much more common. Fortunately, most falls aren’t severe, but some can be.
For example, if an elderly person is to slip down the stairs, it can have severe and long-lasting repercussions, and even be potentially fatal. If an elderly person were to fall whilst they are alone, they would be helpless and in pain until someone came investigating.
Luckily, fall alarms are a solution to this. Now, most nursing homes are equipping their residents with fall alarms so that if they ever do fall, they can quickly press the button which then alerts nurses and other staff to come to their aid. Some even send an alert without being pressed so that help comes even if the person is unconscious.
Senior people who aren’t in care homes are also carrying these alarms in their pockets or around their necks for if the worst ever happened and they needed help.
Apps
Many senior people are now being encouraged to use technology and download apps onto their devices.
The best types of apps for seniors are health-based ones, such as Pill Monitor.
Apps like this exist to make day-to-day life easier for seniors. Also, they allow them more independency, as it means actual people don’t have to remind them of certain tasks, their smartphones will ping them instead.
Supplements
Lastly, more care providers are giving senior people supplements to keep them healthy.
Of course, Vitamin D is usually at the top of the supplements list. Vitamin D is highly recommended for seniors due to the fact that they spend more time indoors and don’t get as much sunlight as the average person does.