With the ever increasing information about the system of services delivery for the elderly population being broken (see articles from The New York Times and Forbes for examples), many of our nation’s elderly citizens, their families, and concerned others are opting to keep their aged loved ones at their own home or a relative’s home and have services delivered in the home.

Such a method of service delivery eliminates added layers of regulations and restrictions more prevalent in institutional or facility based care, and allows the individual and concerned others much more control over his or her own decision making. For example, something as simple as a meal time is typically set in a facility based placement.

Whereas, in a home based model of care, the consumer of the services can most of the time self-direct when he or she wants to eat, bathe, exercise or engage in any other activity that we often take for granted. Such simple things, that we often do not think much about, can go a long way to preserving an elderly individual’s sense of autonomy and dignity.