Once they reach adulthood, young adults with special conditions tend to have high and complex care needs and require a high degree of personalization. Private care is extremely important to meet these needs, providing the most appropriate support and services for young adults with special conditions to live and engage in their communities in varied and meaningful ways. In this guide, we discuss the various private care options open to young adults with special conditions and help you understand how to identify and implement these solutions.
Understanding the Unique Healthcare Needs of Young Adults with Special Conditions
1. Medical and Therapeutic Needs
- Chronic Conditions: Cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and muscular dystrophy are examples of conditions that may need long-term medical care, physical therapy, and other special treatments.
- Behavioural Health: Most young adults with these unique conditions also have behavioral health needs, such as mental health support and counseling.
2. Daily Living Support
- Personnel Care. Help with activities of daily living (ADLs), including bathing, dressing, and eating.
- Mobility and Transportation: Support for mobility needs and transportation to appointments and activities.
3. Educational and Vocational Support
- Specialized Education: Tailored educational programs or vocational training to enhance skills and employment opportunities.
- Life Skills Training: Programs that focus on developing independence and managing daily life responsibilities.
Private Care Options for Young Adults with Special Conditions
1. In-Home Care Services
Personal Care Assistants
- What it does: Personal care assistants (PCAs) help kids and adults with daily activities like toileting, grooming, feeding, and medication.
- Personalized care: care plans are tailored to the individual’s particular situation, based on their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
Home Health Aides
- Medical Care: HHAs can provide simple medical assistance, such as medication administration, monitoring of medical conditions, and help with rehabilitative exercises.
- Coordination: HHAs often closely coordinate with physicians to serve as a continuity of care, and can quickly identify and act upon medical issues.
2. Specialized Residential Care
Assisted Living Facilities
- Services: Assisted living facilities combine housing, personal care, and support services in a residential community setting for people who need help with daily living, but do not require intensive medical care.
- Amenities: Facilities often provide recreational activities, social opportunities, and life skills training.
Group Homes
- Structure: While the environment in group homes typically resembles a group-living situation, these homes tend to have a relatively small number of residents. They organize care to recognize and accommodate the commonalities among individuals living together.
- Support Services: Most of these homes have on-site support for day-to-day living, medical care, and behavioral health needs.
3. Day Programs and Respite Care
Adult Day Programs
- Activities: structure, therapeutic interventions, and social interaction take place in the community setting of the adult day program. This setting could be a good fit for someone who needs support during the day but wants to remain at home at night.
- Benefits: They provide opportunities for skill development, socialization, and engagement in meaningful activities.
Respite Care
- Temporary relief (respite care): Provides short-term relief for the family caregiver, helping to reduce the stress and fatigue associated with long-term care. Respite care can be given in the home or at special facilities.
- Context: Having this kind of respite also prevents caregiver burnout and ensures the professional provision of high-quality care for the individual when the caregiver is absent.
4. Specialized Medical Care
Private Practice Specialists
- Expertise: Specialists in private practice provide expert care for certain conditions, such as neurologists, developmental pediatricians, or orthopedic surgeons.
- Coordinated Care: These professionals often work in conjunction with other preventive-care practitioners to provide a layered approach to staying healthy.
Telemedicine
- Remote Consultation: Telemedicine is the driving force behind remote consultations with specialists and healthcare personnel in the field from anywhere.
- Follow-up Care: helps with the management of chronic conditions and allows periodic check‑ins without clinic multiple times a week.
5. Therapeutic and Support Services
Occupational Therapy
- Skill Development: Occupational therapists enhance the development of new skills and the re-acquisition of old skills to support daily living and working activities, focusing on fine motor skills, coordination, and self-help.
- Customized Plans: Therapy plans are customized to address specific challenges and goals.
Speech and Language Therapy
- Problems Speech-language pathologists work with individuals who have communication problems related to Speech (a person’s ability to create sounds that together form words such as ‘she’ or ‘ski’ with understandable clarity).Language (a person’s ability to understand others as well as to present ideas verbally, in writing, and through displays of behavior).Swallowing (a person’s ability to eat safely and without choking).
- Therapeutic Goals: The focus is on establishing goals that are tailored to the individual and exclusively designed to improve communication and functional abilities.
6. Financial and Legal Considerations
Funding Sources
- Review private insurance policies to learn what’s covered: in-home care; specialized therapies; and residential services. Private Insurance.
- Government Programs: Learn more about Medicaid or your state’s specific program that provides funds to patients for supportive care services.
Legal Planning
- Guardianship and/or Advocacy: Determine if there is a need for legal guardianship or power of attorney to make decisions that the young adult might not be able to make on their own.
- Estate Planning: Create a comprehensive estate plan that outlines your desired care, designates someone to speak for you if you’re unable to, and details how your financial and legal matters will be managed.
Implementing a Private Care Plan
1. Assessment and Planning
- Needs assessment: Carry out a comprehensive needs assessment of the young adult’s medical, personal, and educational requirements.
- The care plan plays a crucial role in bedside planning and decision-making by describing the types of services to be completed, the frequency of care, the expected outcomes, and the evaluations to be carried out.
2. Selecting Care Providers
- Research and Evaluation: Research prospective care providers such as in-home care agencies, residential facilities, and specialists. Assess their qualifications, track record, and fit.
- Interviews and Trials: Interview the chosen provider and, if possible, trial.
3. Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustments
- Schedule regular reviews of the care plan: Frequency is dependent on the instance of review, but generally, they should be at a minimum of every three months. The focus of this review is to review progress, address any issues that may prevent progress, and adjust the plan accordingly.
- Feedback: Gather feedback from the young adult, their family and support person, and care providers, to iteratively improve the care plan so that it is responsive to ongoing changing situations and needs.
The care needs of young adults living with special conditions are complex and multifaceted, requiring a holistic and coordinated approach, encompassing medical, therapeutic, and personal support, which cannot be provided adequately in the standard healthcare environment. The private care sector therefore represents an ideal solution for managing these needs, whether through in-home care, specialized residential services, day programs, or therapeutic interventions. The key lies in identifying the unique needs and requirements of each individual carefully selecting appropriate care providers and facilities, and then regularly reviewing and adjusting the care plan to maintain the continuity of care provision. With the right approach, families can ensure that their adult children with special needs receive the comprehensive, coordinated, and individualized care they need to achieve the highest quality of life possible.
