The downside of the Daycare model: Why is in-home senior care more humane?

Sending grandparents to daycare like sending children: The little-discussed hidden aspects of the Daycare model.

In recent years, daycare for the elderly has emerged and developed strongly. This is considered a new social welfare solution, providing the elderly with a community environment, therapeutic activities, exercise, and opportunities to socialize with peers. While this is a positive step forward for society, it is not without its downsides, especially when many families unconsciously turn the act of "taking their elders to daycare" into a feeling of "sending them to daycare like sending them to babysitters."

1. The undeniable advantages of Daycare

To be fair, day care homes are striving to provide many positive benefits:

• Shared living space, with a schedule for exercise and club activities.
• The medical team provides basic monitoring and support when abnormalities occur.
• Recreational and social activities help reduce loneliness, especially for the elderly who stay home alone all day.

For healthy seniors who enjoy going out and being in a group, this could be a positive experience.

2. Psychological trauma: The feeling of being "sent away to be looked after"

The problem arises when this model is applied in exactly the same way as "childcare": drop off the child in the morning, sign the papers, and pick them up in the afternoon. When everything is arranged from the perspective of "convenience for the children and grandchildren," many elderly people easily develop a feeling:

• "I've become the one who needs to be looked after, no longer the owner of the house."
• Feeling sorry for myself, thinking I'm a burden to my children and grandchildren.
• I'm hesitant to express my true feelings because I'm afraid of causing trouble.

The self-esteem of older adults is very sensitive. They were once the pillars and decision-makers of the household. Now, being "sent" away – even to a good place – can still cause their spirits to plummet. This is something that not all centers address.

3. Rigid schedules and travel pressure

To meet the pick-up and drop-off times at the center, families often have to wake their elderly grandparents quite early, quickly feed them, give them medicine, and take them there during busy traffic hours, sometimes in cold or rainy weather. This creates significant difficulties:

• Getting in and out of a car is already a strenuous exercise for older people.
• Sudden temperature changes (from a warm room to the cold outdoors, then into an air-conditioned room) can easily cause blood pressure to fluctuate, negatively affecting health.

These problems will be eliminated if the family chooses the service. caring for the elderly At home, where her daily routine remains the center, she is not bound by administrative hours.

4. Difficulties in monitoring personal health.

In a daycare environment, staff, despite their best efforts, have to manage many elderly people at the same time and caring for the sick according to a general schedule. Compared to having a private caregiver at home, it would be more difficult to recognize "unusual signals" at the center.

Home caregivers can recognize these signs in time:

• Today, the old man ate less than usual.
• The old man was unusually quiet or had a sad expression on his face.
• He had a sleepless night last night and seems tired this morning.

For older adults, these small changes can sometimes be early signs of a hypertensive crisis, respiratory failure, or depression.

5. SAN: Chăm sóc tại nhà để cụ vẫn là chủ nhân

We understand that, for many elderly people, the most humane way to care for them is to keep them at home, in their familiar surroundings, their usual tea-drinking spot, and surrounded by familiar neighbors. Professional caregivers will come to them, rather than "sending them away to someone else to look after them."

Comprehensive support services such as housemaidhome nursing, and therapeutic massage của SAN được thiết kế để:

• Respect each elderly person's individual habits: mealtimes, sleep times, and personal preferences.
• Continuously observe any small changes and promptly inform your family.
• Providing both physical and mental health care: talking, listening, so that she still feels valued and has a voice in the home..