When Keeping Your Loved One at Home Means Bringing in Help

When Keeping Your Loved One at Home Means Bringing in Help

Home Care Services: Help with Quality Care for Your Loved Ones

As any family caregiver knows, your commitment to your loved one is beyond question. Whether you’ve been providing care for a month, a year, or a decade, you’ve clearly dedicated yourself to ensuring that your loved one has the best home care and quality of life possible for as long as possible.

However, in any caregiving relationship, there may come a time when outside help is necessary to maintain the quality of care. This help may be necessary on a temporary basis or it may be crucial to keeping your loved one in his/her home. When that time comes, knowing just a little about the different aspects of home care will go a long way toward making you feel more in control.

What Is Home Care?

Home care is a general term that represents a wide range of community-based services, from supporting someone who is recuperating from an acute situation, such as a hip fracture, to providing in-home healthcare services to an individual with an ongoing chronic condition such as Alzheimer’s disease or cerebral palsy.

While the skills and duties of home care personnel vary, all have one thing in common: they make it possible for care recipients to remain at home in a safe environment and, in some cases, to have more independence than they did before. In the process, they also provide family caregivers with a chance to replenish their depleted physical and emotional reserves.

Types of Home Care Personnel

  • Registered nurses (RNs) who provide skilled medical care, including giving medications, monitoring vital signs, dressing wounds, and teaching family caregivers how to use complicated equipment at home.
  • Therapists who work with patients to restore or maintain their motor, speech, and cognitive skills.
  • Home care aides who provide personal services such as bathing, dressing, toileting, making meals, light cleaning, and transporting patients to the doctor.
  • Companion/homemakers who help with chores around the house but usually do not perform personal duties for the care recipient.

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)

ADLs are basic daily activities and functions typically performed independently without assistance. The six ADLs are:

  • eating
  • dressing
  • bathing
  • toileting
  • transferring
  • continence

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)

IADLs, on the other hand, are those activities instrumental to our daily routines, such as:

  • driving
  • preparing meals
  • doing housework
  • shopping
  • managing finances
  • managing medication
  • using the telephone

Getting Started With Home Care Services

If you are considering getting home care help to assist you with your caregiving responsibilities and/or to get some time for yourself, there are a number of things you need to consider:

  • Ensure both you and your loved one are comfortable with the idea of someone else taking on some of the tasks you’ve been handling. Discussions may be necessary if your loved one initially opposes outside help.
  • Define the tasks that the home care worker needs to do. This will help determine whether you need a nurse for medical care or a home care aide for personal care.

Navigating Home Care Costs and Coverage

  • Once you know what type of assistance you need, it’s essential to ask questions about where to find services, the costs involved, and whether insurance or government programs will cover any of these expenses.
  • Some insurance companies and programs may cover home healthcare services, but it is vital to review your benefits to understand the extent of the coverage.
  • Non-medical home care services, such as personal care tasks, are often not covered by health insurance or Medicare, so costs may come out of pocket.

Who to Call for Non-Medical Home Care Services

Professional caregivers can be grouped into three different categories: agency employees, independent contractors with a registry, and independent caregivers.

  • Agency Employees: These caregivers are trained, bonded, and insured, and the agency handles all employment obligations.
  • Independent Contractors: Recruited through a registry, independent contractors may not be bonded or insured, and you become responsible for managing their employment.
  • Independent Caregivers: These caregivers find their own clients, and you are responsible for all employment responsibilities, including hiring, scheduling, and paying taxes.

Questions to Ask a Non-Medical Home Care Provider

  • Has the caregiver been trained, and to what extent?
  • Are caregivers bonded and insured?
  • Does the agency offer back-up/replacement caregivers?
  • What is the cost of service, including minimum hours per visit and special overnight rates?
  • How much input will you have in selecting the caregivers?

Who to Call for Home Healthcare

When hiring home healthcare, it’s important to seek licensed medical caregivers, often through Medicare-certified home health agencies. Services may include skilled nursing, physical therapy, and assistance with daily activities.

Questions to Ask a Home Healthcare Provider

  • Is the home healthcare agency Medicare-certified?
  • Does the agency provide a full range of services, including skilled nursing, therapies, and home health aides?
  • Does the agency offer emergency services during nights and weekends?

Medicare-Certified Home Health Agencies

Information about Medicare-certified agencies in your area is available online at Medicare Home Health Compare or by calling 800-MEDICARE.

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