There is a tsunami coming at the rate of 10,000 baby boomers a day who turn 65 and this will happen for the next 20 years.
According to AARP, when baby boomers are asked where they want to live as they age, 90 percent say, “In my home.”
November is National Home Care and Hospice Month, which highlights the benefits of being cared for at home.
Today, millions of America’s seniors and disabled citizens depend on home care and hospice services to remain healthy, stable and out of costly traditional settings. Home care is also clinically effective, utilizing advanced technologies and helping to cost-effectively manage chronic diseases that account for 75 percent of our nation’s health care spending.
National Home Care and Hospice Month also provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the nearly one million caregivers who provide services to more than four million Americans who receive health care in their home daily.
Today, the combined need for continued acute care services with an expanding need to provide end-of-life care and care for those with chronic illnesses, places significant burdens on an already stressed health care system.
Clearly, the future of our health care system relies upon home care and hospice, which combine quality of care, compassion and cost effectiveness.
Vicki Purgavie, Executive Director
Home Care & Hospice
Alliance of Maine
Augusta
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