Home Care or Retirement Home?

Today, 2 million Belgians are over 65, almost 1 in 5 people: autonomy and personal assistance are essential societal issues. When signs of dependency appear, many questions arise. How to properly identify everyone’s needs and expectations, what are the existing solutions, and how to make the right choice? To guide you, here is a comparison of the two main modes of personal assistance: home support and retirement homes.

Managing Loss of Autonomy in Seniors: What Options?

When should you seek help? Two types of situations serve as indicators:

• When it becomes too complicated to perform essential daily activities, help becomes necessary. This allows assistance for elderly people who have difficulty dressing, preparing meals, moving around, etc.

• Then there is the case of “the caregiver” who is no longer able to manage their loved one alone. Taking care of a dependent loved one can indeed be complicated and lead to burnout. By requesting outside help, “the caregiver” protects their private life and ultimately avoids exhaustion and discouragement.

To address these situations, we now find two major solutions:

Home Care

This is the preferred solution for the majority of seniors, with 85% of them wishing to age at home. This strong trend can be justified by financial or social issues, place of residence, the desire to organize their time freely, etc. Most seniors here want to keep their bearings. A nursing aide (or home nurse) then takes care of elderly people at home, assisting them with daily activities.

Retirement Home

This solution is much less requested, with only 6% of seniors living in specialized facilities. The reception mainly concerns older age groups: 4% at 80 years old, then 23% at 90 years old and 52% at 100 years old. The advantage of this institutional care is the comprehensive monitoring provided on-site: the senior benefits from significant medical support and complete autonomy care.

Home Care or Retirement Home, How to Choose?

• Home care is suitable for dependent seniors who have maintained a minimum of autonomy and whose home is secure and adapted to their situation.
• A retirement home should be considered when the health and autonomy of the elderly person have deteriorated too much and home care becomes too risky.

Criteria to Consider Before Any Decision

It is essential to know the wishes of the dependent person. Seniors want to keep as much freedom as possible despite loss of autonomy, with stable bearings and some control over their daily life. Home care can meet these needs and guarantee optimal well-being for the person.

Besides the senior’s desire to stay at home, their level of dependency, their specific needs, and also financial aspects will determine the final choice:

• Are they able to live at home despite their loss of autonomy, in housing adapted to their condition? If so, home care can be considered.
• If dependency is very significant and requires permanent supervision, contacting a retirement home will be preferable: the risk of accidents is too high. Setting up a team at home is possible (up to 24/7), but this represents a considerable budget.

Home Care or Retirement Home?

The choice is never easy and should therefore be based on several factors:

• The health status of the person concerned
• Their level of autonomy
• Family context
• Financial resources

Home care is by far the preferred option, more flexible in its operation, and the person can keep their bearings and habits in a reassuring environment. This solution is reserved for sufficiently autonomous seniors. Retirement homes offer more comprehensive support within a specialized structure but this also means relocation. Despite the reluctance of some seniors, this solution is essential when dependency has become too pronounced and the budget does not allow for a complete team at home.