The challenges we face in life always have a remedy. No matter what kind of issue you have, you’re never short of solutions and one of the areas that we care deeply about is our health. Yet, we seem to think that our health options are limited. The doctor and the hospital, that’s all we think about when we consider our personal health and wellbeing choices. However, this could not be further from the truth. Throughout your entire life, you have access to many different forms of care. From the start of your life when you are a baby, then a toddler and the as you grow into an adult and longer, there are specific types of care that have been tailored to the types of health concerns that appear in those age brackets. So let’s take a look at what these options are.
The foundation years
When a baby is born, the very first week will be when the doctors begin to consider what kind of health concerns and duties they might be faced with. For parents, the first 5 years of their child’s life will be referred to as the foundation years by the health professionals. It is here where they will be monitoring and checking up on your child every few months.
It’s when illnesses and conditions that could affect your child later on in life, might develop. It’s also when the child’s personal health record will start. Every illness or condition the baby experiences in the first year, will be logged. It’s not abnormal for the doctor to have a special folder of the foundation years, just because it will be used as a historical reference point, should the child develop a condition later on after the foundation years. The child’s development is all in one place and this means, parents can be given valuable information about their baby’s health, should something like a skin condition, breathing problem or brain disease show signs of occurring.
“Pediatric care
Pediatric care can be for toddlers up to early teenage years, or all the way to adulthood. There are some similarities regarding pediatric care and foundation years. The body is still developing. In some ways it’s strong and in some ways, it’s weak. The immune system has not yet fully developed but it’s incredibly resilient. The body, muscles, bone and ligaments have not fully developed either, but they are strong.
The aim of pediatric care is to primarily, reduce any notion of potentially fatal diseases and illnesses that could affect the long-term development of the child. Most of the time, parents will want to use a specialist pediatrician for a number of reasons.
- Injuries. Children play rough, sometimes too rough. It’s great to have a pediatrician who specializes in children’s bodies to help heal cuts, fractures and muscle trauma.
- Infections. Children often put things in their nose, ears and mouth that they should not. So fighting off ear infections and more, is commonplace for parents with toddlers.
- Dislodging items. Removing toys and all sorts of things from a child’s nose or ears at least once is also reasonably common.
- Genetic conditions. If the parents have a family history of certain genetic conditions such as cancer or epilepsy, this is something that a pediatrician will monitor and track.
Adult care
When you reach the age of 18, you will receive a different type of care. It will be less intense, as monitoring of your own health is the main way in which you will find abnormal health concerns. A transition will take place from pediatrics to adult care, starting at the ages of between 14-18. Usually, this next stage of health care is called the clinical care phase. Essentially, you will need to take care of most of your own health concerns, such as influenza, coughs, infections, etc. However, for conditions that do not go away by themselves or by self-treatment i.e. treatments you can buy at a store, then you will need to visit your local doctor.
It’s a good idea for someone who is transitioning to clinical care, to visit their doctor at the age of 18. The doctor will give them advice on how they can take care of themselves.
- Website information. The new adult will be given advice on which websites to visit. If there is a national health service or something similar, the doctor will show them how to visit and use the website. On such a website, an individual can type in a search box, their symptoms and the website will show them what they could be suffering from and how to treat it.
- For the basics such as headaches, infections and viruses, the doctor will inform them of which types of treatments and brands there are, that they can buy themselves.
- Leaflets and other information will be given to them for accessing private and public health care and what kind of payments there might be, such as payment for medicine, visits, services, etc.
Twilight years
When you reach retirement and you begin to feel more aches and pains, as well as being more susceptible to infections, viruses and chronic pain, then you should consider a fuller health care plan. For example, if you have parents or are reaching parts of their lives where they need around-the-clock care, or perhaps frequent care, then look at hospice care. It’s not what you might think, it’s not caring for someone who is a few months away from passing away. Actually, it’s basic to advanced care that can help someone retain their freedom by living in their own home instead of going to a retirement society.
Take a look at https://serenitycares.com/ as a prime example. Serenity Hospice Care coordinates health care services that are covered by Medicaid, in the comfort of your own home. This relieves so much stress from families, allowing them to stay within the family unit. Friends and family will never be too far and they don’t have to book appointments to see their loved one. The individual receiving the care, will concentrate on managing pain. If an older person has had hip surgery, walking to the bathroom and back, as well as doing strengthening exercises by themselves is difficult. Hospice care will help in these sorts of tasks to make sure the aging person is living a good life with as little pain as possible.
Specialist care
For specific types of illness and conditions, specialist care is usually the only path. For example, if you have a family member with degenerative nerve disease, doing basic things such as getting out of bed, going to the bathroom and feeding themselves, is incredibly challenging. They might not even know where they are, or who is helping them. So to have a specialist nurse, specialist doctors and surgeons, is the only way to help someone in this state.
This often means going to a specialist health service provider. This type of care is expensive but there are benefits that outweigh costs. For one thing, you may be able to continue to work full-time. If there is only one parent in the household, this could be a brilliant option for their child’s care.
Everyone will need different types of care as they age and as their body changes. It’s vital that as parents, we plan our child’s care before they are born. So, by the time they are an adult, they have a long history of care, there have been illnesses and conditions that have been caught early and managed.
