Types of Home Care Services

November is national Home Care Month and to celebrate it, we will be putting up posts about the different realms home care covers, so you may understand what to look for when deciding to use home care.

Home care is one of the fastest growing and most cost-effective providers of the health care industry, and is clearly preferred by patients. Who of us wouldn’t prefer to be cared for in our own homes rather than in a hospital or other institution?

Types of Home Care Services:

Actually home care is a name that encompasses many different forms of care and services.

There are non-medical supportive services available through home care that help people who need some assistance remain independent. These are services which can extend the ability of many people to live in their own homes. These services are provided by paraprofessionals such as home health aides, certified nursing assistants, homemakers and companions. Services can include assistance with bathing, meal preparation, companionship, shopping, etc. Companions and homemakers give comfort, support and assistance to those who want to continue an active, independent lifestyle in their own home.

Intermittent skilled services are provided through a home care agency by Registered Nurses RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) or Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs). These professionals visit your home periodically and provide health status assessments, teaching about diseases and treatment for clients and families, taking samples for lab tests, nutritional counseling, medication training and compliance, wound care, venipuncture, ostomy teaching and management, IV management and more.

Additionally, many therapies can be provided at home to speed recovery from illness, injury or surgery. These include physical therapy to regain physical motion and strength, occupational therapy to regain day to day skills such as dressing and feeding oneself, and speech and language therapy to improve breathing, swallowing or communicating.

Many home care patients require continuous care for major portions of every day, if
not 24 hours a day. These include:

• Technology-dependent patients who have respiratory conditions treated by ventilators, infusion.

• Functionally disabled patients who may include individuals who are paralyzed,mentally disabled, or unable to perform activities of daily living.