Low Care vs High Care
With the onset of old age, people find that they are not only getting troubled by sickness and diseases, but they also start to have difficulties living at home as they need constant care and companionship. In Australia, there is a system of aged care facilities where old age people are provided with all help and assistance, to live comfortably. Centers that are set up to provide help and care to old age people have different levels of care for senior citizens. There is both ‘low care’ as well as ‘high care’ facilities. If you are confused between low care and high care and what these phrases actually mean, please read on as this article attempts to highlight the differences between these two types of care provided in old age facilities across the country.
Low Care
Low care, as the name implies, is the level of care needed by old age people who have trouble in performing some of their daily activities though they can walk around on their own. Low care is for old age people who can manage their daily chores with some help and assistance from a nurse or any other person. People requiring low care are in general mostly independent, but they require some help from others to fulfill their daily requirements of showering, dressing, and eating medication as per the dosage prescribed by their doctors. Thus, a low care facility would typically provide accommodation and meals along with some help and assistance from a nurse in fulfilling daily activities of the inmates.
High Care
High care facility is for those old age people who are very frail and unable to look after their daily requirements. These are the people who require continual help and assistance for feeding and toilet as well as bathing and dressing. These old age people are totally dependent upon a qualified nurse to have their medication too. The phrase that was in vogue earlier in place of high care was high dependency and the centers that provided high care facilities were earlier referred to as nursing homes. Most of the inmates in a high level care facility are under 24 hour supervision and nursing care. They are unable to move and cannot take care of their daily chores. There are also people with behavioral problems in high care facilities as well as people suffering from dementia.
What is the difference between Low Care and High Care Aged Care?
• Low care facilities provide occasional nursing care, whereas high care facilities provide 24 hour nursing care.
• Low care centers are for people who are able to take care of their daily chores and require only a little help and assistance, whereas high care centers are for people with higher frailty and people who cannot move around or perform their daily activities like bathing and showering without the help of a nurse.
• The level of care required by a person is decided by healthcare professionals who make an assessment after observing the mental and physical condition of an individual.
• Low care centers allow aged people to live as independently as possible providing minimal help and assistance that these people require to perform their daily activities.