There are some big differences between home care and residential care. In today’s blog article we are going to look at home care versus residential care in Alberta.

Home care and residential care are complex subjects, so let’s look at them one at a time.

Home Care

Home care refers to someone coming to your home to provide you with a wide range of services. The services might include things like helping someone get dressed or helping them eat or even cooking or cleaning. This is just a partial list to illustrate the point.

In Canada, in all provinces, the provincial health authorities default to trying to keep an individual at home in their place of residence. The theory is that if an individual’s needs can be met at home, then this is a better and easier solution for all involved.

In Alberta—as in other provinces—the province will pay for a certain amount of home care, although there is a ceiling on how much they will pay for, a number that changes regularly. Also, the province doesn’t provide the care, but rather contracts to an approved provider. In addition, there are limits on what types of care the province will pay for.

If you want or need more than Alberta is willing to pay for, you can supplement that care with more care that you pay for at your own expense. Some individuals (or their families) are willing or able to do that in order to keep an individual at home.

Residential Care

Residential care is for individuals who needs cannot be met at home for whatever reason. Whether or not someone qualifies for residential care is determined by a case worker assigned to the patient. This case worker is a medical professional who does an assessment of the patient.

Again, residential care will be paid for by the province, although the care providers have to be approved to provide that care, and there are dollar limits on what the province will cover. Individuals can supplement money toward the cost of care or even arrange and pay for the whole thing themselves.

The big advantage of home care is keeping someone at home in an environment that he or she is familiar and comfortable with, which is why this is the default. The big advantage of residential care is that there is a team of professionals to provide care, who are trained to provide more care than can typically be provided at home.

In order to determine what kind of care someone needs, your family doctor is a good place to start. You can also call 8-1-1 to get more information.

We have a senior, independent-living community in Airdrie, Alberta called the Hamlets at Cedarwood Station. If would like to talk to us about any of the services we offer or learn more about community, we would be delighted to talk to you. Call us at (403) 945-2222.

Cedarwood Station is an independent-living, senior community in Airdrie, Alberta, just north of Calgary. Guided by the tenets of Christian faith, and with a stellar staff and multiple amenities, Cedarwood Station, is the premier senior-living choice for the area.