Institutional Care vs. Non institutional Care
Long term care has grown to be a major part of health care in this day and age. When we compare long term care from the preindustrial era to nowadays and we can see how much it has developed. The elderly and disabled have so many more options than what they use to have in the past. Some of the types of long term care currently available are: nursing care, assisted living, home care, and hospice care among many more. These can be separated into two categories; institutional or non-institutional. There have been debates over which type of care is more beneficial; while that is still an opinion too there are other issues like sustainability and quality of care that are still in debate.
Institutional care is usually provided by a large organization that is mostly comprised of nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, therapists, nutritionists and many more. Among the types of institutional care facilities we can mention nursing home care, assisted living care, sub-acute care and housing services. Institutional care is particularly intended for those who need constant care and assistance with day to day activities. Today, institutional care is the most common form of long term care. Elderly and disabled are able to interact together while also having twenty-four hour care to daily necessities by professionals, this provides patients with a sense of security.
Non- institutional care is usually given by non-licensed professionals. Although in some instances the assitance of professionals, like nurse practitioners, is needed. Among the types of non-institutional care there is home care, adult day care and hospice care. These services are provided in the comfort of the patients' own home. Although a patient may not always have constant care like in an institutional facility, they have the convenience of being in the comfort and security of their own homes.
One benefit from non-institutional care is that in most instances it is much more affordable than institutional care. This is mainly because non-institutional care has workers who are not licensed, unlike institutional care, therefore making it less costly. Also while institutional care provides constant assistance, non institutional care does not. In this way payers like insurance companies or government programs, like Medicare, can bring down the cost of long term care.
Institutional and non-institutional care are both very different care types but both with the same goal; to properly care for the elderly and disabled. Choosing which one is better is more of an opinion. Since both types of care have very beneficial services, choosing which one is better is more so based on the needs of the patient and what the patient can afford. As long term care develops both institutional and non-institutional care will see much change and improvement. 