An Overview of Home Care for Seniors

The home is the nicest place there is. For a vast majority of seniors, the home serves as the foundation of their identity, autonomy and independence. Staying in the warmth and comfort of home, and close to family members can have significant benefits. Home care is the ideal choice for individuals requiring specialized services, but cherishes the liberty of living independently.

Today, in-home care is considered as a diverse and dynamic industry. It is well-established and based on statistics issued by the National Association of Home Care & Hospice, about 7.6 million Americans are currently receiving home care from an estimated 17,000 agencies throughout the country. Here are some types of home health services that you may find in your area:

Physician Care

A duly licensed medical practitioner visits the patient at home in order to assess, diagnose and provide treatment to existing or potential diseases. The physician may also regularly review the patient’s home health care needs.

Health Aides and Homemakers

Health aides and homemakers typically render less intensive home care, although they can cover a wider range of services. Health aides are responsible for extending assistance with certain needs such as bathing, dressing, grooming, eating and toileting. There are agencies with qualified health aides who have been trained to perform basic medical chores with minimal supervision from a registered nurse. Homemakers are trained to organize and maintain the household but they don’t provide assistance when it comes to personal care.

Nursing Care

This is by far the most common form of home health care and is usually prescribed by a doctor. During the consultation, a registered nurse sets up a plan of care which normally includes administering medication, post-operative care, ventilator care, intravenous therapy, wound dressing, pain control, cardiovascular disease management, monitoring the health of patient, and other forms of health support. Though the most common, skilled nursing care is also the most expensive type of home care service. The good news is that it is the most likely to be covered by Medicare.

Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy

Some patients, such as those who have had a stroke or recovering from surgery, may require assistance in relearning how to go about with their daily activities. They may also need help in improving their speech after suffering from a disease or injury. A physical therapist is specifically trained to devise a treatment plan to help a patient strengthen the muscles and joints in order to regain mobility. An occupational therapist can assist seniors with physical, emotional, developmental or social disabilities relearn how to perform routine tasks like bathing, eating, dressing, among others. Speech therapists help in restoring speech so patients can communicate more clearly.

Hospice Home Care

This is a form of palliative care extended to patients with terminal diseases. As such, it requires close coordination between health care providers and the family members. Hospice at home entails 24/7 care, with the objective of helping individuals who are no longer responding to disease-oriented treatment. Cure is no longer the focus as it is shifted to offering compassionate care that provides for the highest possible quality of life for the patient.