Most of us know someone who has been or still is in long term hospital care, whether they?ve suffered an injury, contracted an illness or slipped into a coma, there?s plentiful reasons to end up in that situation. But there?s also plenty of alternatives, each with unique positives and negatives. The uniting factor of all these alternatives is that they allow a choice to those who may be feeling helpless, offering independence to the dependant. Hospitals can seem like alien, otherworldly places where the sick are carted in and treated like machines that need to be maintained. Hospitals can also be dangerous places for the vulnerable, as being in close proximity to other ill people can make health conditions worse and spread diseases to patients whilst their immune systems are weakened by other ailments. The main alternatives to long term hospital care are at-home care, care homes and getting better. Although the latter option is the most desirable, we wouldn?t need hospitals in the first place if getting better was as simple as wanting it. So if we don?t want to stay at the hospital, we are left with a choice between our homes or care homes, both of which come at a price we unfortunately can?t all afford.
At Home Care

When choosing to receive care at home, depending on the severity of our condition we might require to hire live-in or part-time carers, or have visitors check in on us. Either way, many conditions require specialist equipment to treat properly, so we are left...