What Is Custodial Care?
Apart from medical care, seniors suffering from dementia and related conditions will need help with daily tasks. This post defines custodial care, the difference between skilled care and custodial care, and also the respective costs involved.
Custodial Care
It is the non-medical professionals who are mostly found offering custodial care to seniors. These caregivers can help seniors with physical, mental, and medical conditions with daily tasks like bathing and eating, which these individuals could not do themselves. Custodial care is recommended to be offered by professionals. However, it can also be provided by individuals without any formal training in personal support or nursing care. As most of these tasks are routine tasks like bathing, using the toilet, help with mobility, eating, etc, formal training is not necessary to provide help with these tasks.
Custodial care is usually offered by an in-home caregiver or an assisted living aide with or without training in nursing care. Insurance or Medicaid may cover the costs, but typically when the individual is in a nursing home.
Duties And Responsibilities Of Custodial Caregivers
Custodial caregivers offer care to seniors and may or may not be medically trained. Usually, they do not offer medical care but help with the daily tasks of the individual. Some of the duties of a custodial caregiver are:
- Help in the kitchen, which includes meal preparation and grocery shopping.
- Help with motility, including picking up and carrying all over the home.
- Help with making use of the toilet and bathing.
- Assistance with dressing and personal care.
Custodial care is different from companion care. Custodial care involves offering help with tasks like bathing and toileting, whereas companion care focuses more on emotional and social support.
Skilled Care Vs Custodial Care
Seniors who require medical services will need skilled care. Usually, they might be recovering from medical issues and might be receiving end-of-life care. Skilled caregivers will be medically trained and can offer more thorough care including catheter care, physical therapy, medication dispensing, wound care, and giving intravenous injections.
If the senior only needs help with daily tasks, then skilled care can be unnecessary. Custodial care is suitable for long-term, everyday care for seniors. Whether offered by a family caregiver or as a part of a long-term care program like nursing home care, custodial care is an important part of senior caregiving. Many families of seniors who need custodial care find that in-home caregiving can be a practical solution.