The population of the aged increases each day and it is becoming more imperative to provide for adequate and quality care of this population. The provision of such care is what the home care is all about.
Home care can promote the stimulation and maintenance of patient autonomy, because home tasks can be performed within the patient’s own time, with the encouragement, support and possibility of further development of the bond between the caregiver and the patient.
On the other hand, it also presents itself as a way to reduce expenses in the hospital scenario
What is home care?
Home care aims at satisfying people’s health and social needs while in their home by providing appropriate and high-quality home-based health care and social services, by formal and informal caregivers, with the use of technology when appropriate, within a balanced and affordable continuum of care. In other words, Home care emerges as a mode of care to meet the current needs of permanent care, both to terminal patients, and the chronically ill, thus avoiding hospitalizations that expose these individuals to the risk of infections, as well as the distance of their family environment .
The demand for home care is known to increase with age, even if individuals become dependent at a later stage than previous generations; the latter is due, for example, to improvements in lifestyle, food, personal hygieneand housing. Improvements in disease prevention, standards of living and self-care activities will also influence the level of assistance required and overall levels of dependence. Home care is often an integral component of the post-hospitalization recovery process, especially during the initial weeks after discharge when the patient still requires some level of regular physical assistance.
Changes in social attitudes, values, behaviour and rise in noncommunicable diseases influence the demand for home care. Services offered by Home Care providers can be distinguished from the services provided for by Home Health Care givers, Home Care Aides provide custodial care; they help persons with their activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, housekeeping and transportation.
This is also referred to as personal care, attendant care, non-medical care and companion care. Home Health Aides on the other hand offer care such as checking patients’ pulses, temperature or respiration. They assist with medications, braces, ventilators, and other medical equipment and can provide higher level skilled nursing as well as more basic personal care. Home health aides are also referred to as nurse aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants and geriatric aides.
What is Home Care Assistance?
Simply, Home Care Assistance provides home care. Home Care Assistance services provide seniors, ill individuals or those with disabilities occasional or regular transportation to medical appointments, companionship, assistance with daily activities such as bathing, meal preparation, grocery shopping, handling mail, medication reminders and more. In other words, Home Care Assistance offers a full menu of home care services, from companion care up to help with activities of daily living, offers help overseeing clients’ recovery from illness or surgery, and can provide full time live-in care.
In determining the Home Care Assistance to patronize, it is important to first determine the level of care needed . There are two main categories of home care services provided by Home Care Assistance: skilled care, which provides for medical needs, and custodial care.
Custodial care may include environmental assistance-help with housekeeping, shopping, meal preparation and the like-or personal care, such as bathing, dressing, and feeding.
Home Care Assistance
What are the Factors to be Considered in Choosing Home Care Assistance
- Qualified and Experienced Caregivers: Make sure the Home Care Assistance is only qualified and experienced caregivers who possess a community college Personal Support Worker certificate or equivalent.
- Hiring Process: Ask how the caregivers are hired. If they don’t conduct extensive background checks, talk to references, screen their candidates for personality traits and interview them at least twice, your loved one may be put at risk. Personality traits, such as reliability and a caring disposition, can make or break the relationship between caregiver and care recipient.
- Home Care Assistance Track Record: Reputable Home Care Assistance pay their caregivers fairly and provide them with the statutory benefits, at a minimum. All workers should be fully insured and covered under the Workers’ Compensation Board.
- How Do they Monitor their Caregivers: Enquire how the Home Care Assistance monitors its caregivers. Careful and continuous monitoring ensures that appropriate action can be taken immediately if needed.
- Flexible Location: Flexibility may also be required in the locations where care is provided: at home, in a retirement residence or in a hospital. Some Home Care Assistance does not provide these options and elderly care situations and locations can change.
- Timeliness and Responsiveness: Finally, time is often of the essence because you need home care assistance immediately. Home Care Assistance differs considerably in their ability to respond. Some only need a few hours while others need days. Ask to ensure your needs will be addressed on a timely basis.
- Are the Home Care Givers Employees or Contract Workers: This is an important question for liability reasons. For your protection, it is best to work with an Home Care Assistance with caregivers who are fully insured and bonded
What are the Benefits of Employing the Service of an Home Care Assistance?
- The home care service is delivered at home. Our home is our castle, our refuge from the storm.When we are happy we go home to celebrate. When we are not feeling well we see the sanctity of our home and the comfort of being with loved ones
- Home care helps the elderly maintain their independence.
- Home care promotes healing, there is much scientific evidence that patients heal more quickly at home.
- Home Care extends life, . Studies by schools of nursing and by government agencies established beyond a doubt that home care extends longevity. The visits by Home Care Assistance personnels help people not only medically but spiritually.
- Home care is less expensive than other forms of care. The evidence from
- studies around the world demonstrate that home care is always far less expensive than hospitalization and almost always less costly than comparable placement in a nursing home.
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