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Continuing Care Hamilton

A continuum of health care that anticipates future needs

Continuing care seniors' communities in Hamilton offer a number of important advantages over other kinds of health care or senior care. Hamilton is a great destination for those moving from out of the area who want a robust city with excellent health services, shopping and much more. Continuing care offers different levels of senior care that may range appeal to those who are still independent but are looking ahead to the time when they may need assisted living or even further care. 

Pros and cons of living in continuing care

• Thinking of the future, and changing care needs. Many people moving into an assisted living retirement home move in on the basis of specific needs, often in an emergency. However, some who look ahead will see that care needs may increase as they get older, and not all homes offer a variety of care. Continuing care homes in Hamilton anticipate these changing needs.

• Spouses with different care needs stay together. There are many cases of older couples in Hamilton retirement homes who have different care needs. Quite often, one spouse will need daily assistance with some personal tasks, while the other is still independent but has no interest in living on his or her own. Moving into a continuing care retirement home allows them to manage their living costs while staying together in the same place.
• If it works out, you'll never have to move again. Moving is a stressful disruption at any age. Seniors, especially, have difficulty adjusting to a new environment, Typically, they take three months or longer to fully adjust to a different environment, before it starts to feel like home. Moving into a continuing care environment where future care needs are covered, means that you will never again have to make that adjustment to a new place.

So what are the cons? The cost of moving into a retirement home too early is always a risk for people. But note that care homes seem more expensive than staying at home: monthly fees cover everything you will ever need, from the roof overhead, to food, to all your monthly bills and more. You also remove the need for a vehicle and gas. Many people are surprised that they can afford it just fine.

Questions to consider when it comes to continuing care communities

There are many considerations to think about as you tour retirement homes near you. You should begin with a copy of the retirement home checklist as you tour communities. Beyond that, the following is a list of questions to ask of continuing care communities, including things to consider for yourself, and things to directly ask representatives of the community:

• What is the historical occupancy rate of the community? Occupancy rates for the highest quality homes should be around 90% or higher. If a home has a lower occupancy rate, this may tell you something.
• What is the turnover rate of residency? A home with a turnover rate of 15% or higher may be doing something that turns off residents. Homes with a lower turnover rate may rightly boast that residents are very happy with things and like to stay.  
• Is care consistent from one level to the next? Hypothetically, a home may have great facilities for independent living, and may list assisted living care, but in fact their care staff and facilities may be sub-par or worse. Find out all you can about the reputation, check reviews of the home and go see for yourself how well their other facilities are run. 

Variations in continuing care

A number of Hamilton health care services offer complex continuing care. This is something different entirely, but has some similarities to continuing care retirement homes. In fact, some progressive-minded senior care developments in Hamilton are adopting a complex continuing care model, where seniors can get rehabilitation for health care issues, and they can get convalescent care and care for a variety of ailments is covered under the same roof. This approach to seniors' care is cutting edge perhaps (but expect to see more of it in the future). Continuing care homes like those listed above anticipate this change, and may be more adaptable to switch to complex continuing care, should there be an increased demand for this.