When seniors require more help with daily tasks, they can turn to home care services to ensure they continue living independently.
A professional caregiver or medical professional will come directly to your home to provide the support they need.
Home care can range from a simple housekeeping service or companionship to specialized medical visits. Whatever is needed to live comfortably and safely at home, there is a home care provider for them.
There are three main types of home care: non-medical personal care, private duty nursing care, and home health care. Let's go over them now.
Non-Medical Home Care
Personal care assistants help with the day-to-day living tasks. They are not medical professionals but are trained to help those who struggle due to chronic illness, age, or disability with everyday activities like cooking and cleaning.
Personal care assistants can help assist seniors with bathing, eating, and more. Some professionals have more specialized training than others, and some are just assigned companionship services.
Healthcare providers do not prescribe non-medical personal care and companionship services. It's up to seniors and their families to decide whether these services are necessary and arrange help.
Seniors can decide exactly which tasks they need assistance with, whether a few hours a week, every day, or live-in care.
Nursing Care
In-Home nursing care, is for seniors who need medical care for a chronic condition or disability. These professionals offer primary and specialized medical care, like wound care or monitoring vitals.
In-home nurses carry out various tasks depending on their patients' needs. Some may involve primary care like following a diabetic diet while cooking, nail trimming, and assisting with bathing, while others may be more complex—for example, caring for patients who have a catheter or tracheostomy.
A home-health nurse can also help home care clients monitor their health by assisting them in creating a medication schedule to ensure that all of their health needs are being met.
If you want to be sure that Medicare, Medicaid, or private health insurance will pay for the cost of a nurse, call the doctor first for their recommendation and sign off for insurance to cover it.
Home Health Care
Home health care involves providing services to help people with short-term health problems like an illness or injury.
Nurses aren't the only people who provide home health care. Other professionals that help patients return to living independently include physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, speech pathologists, and physicians.
A doctor must prescribe home health care.
Now that you know the difference between the three home care services, you'll need to explore the differences in cost, have the proper licensing, and hire skilled staff to facilitate your clients' needs.
Did you know that when launching a home care agency, you'll need:
- EIN Setup
- AHCA application
- Clearinghouse Setup
- And Policies & Procedures
Our home care start-up package will address your questions and needs as we assist you with your paperwork process worth easy.
Sign up for our Homecare Startup Package today and let us help.