Having a loved one in need of constant care encompasses a lot of sacrifices and can be quite challenging. However, home health care services can make caring for your loved one who is homebound a lot easier.
Although home health care can make life easier for your loved one, finding the right home service providers can be daunting.
To get the best home health service provider for your loved one, understanding what to look for before and while choosing a home health service can help make your search a lot easier
In this guide, we’ll explore the ins and outs of home health care so you can make more informed decisions for your loved one’s care.
What is home health care?
Home health care is a form of medical service provided by a healthcare provider that ensures a patient continues with their regular activities at home while they recover.
Home health care services are usually provided by licensed professionals such as registered nurses, speech therapists, and occupational therapists.
It is an excellent choice for the elderly who need assistance with day-to-day activities, as well as those who want to avoid being hospitalized and would prefer to recover from home.
Depending on your loved one’s needs, home health care services vary, ranging from
helping individuals with personal day-to-day activities to full-blown medical care services.
Due to the various services available under health care, they’re usually classified into 2 types.
Types of Home Health Care Services
Non-Medical care
This type of home health care service also popularly referred to as personal care aides or home aides, provides services ranging from helping you stay strong and active to offering emotional support and assistance with day-to-day activities like housekeeping, medication management, bathing, dressing, taking of blood pressures and other basic activities.
This health care type can be found in home care companies, caregiver agencies, home care providers, and hospice agencies.
Medical care
Also referred to as skilled care, this type of home health care is provided by a professional who is a part of the patient’s daily care team, such as a physical therapist, occupational therapist, physician, and registered nurse.
The services range from administering intravenous or nutrition therapy, dressing wounds, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and nutritional therapy.
Although home health care can be an excellent choice for people who need assistance with daily activities, as well as those who want to avoid the potential negative consequences of being hospitalized, it is often confused with in-home care services.
While home health and home care services are interrelated, it’s important to note their differences.
Differences Between Home Health Care and Home Care Services
| Home health care services | Home care services |
|---|---|
| Home health care provides medical services | Home care has little to no basis in medicine |
| Services are usually provided by professionals like registered nurses, therapists, and health aides. | Services are provided by professionals and trained caregivers who work in agencies. For example; Amy Eden’s home care services |
| Services provided include dressing wounds, therapy, and checking of vitals. | Services provided include house chores, shopping, help with day-to-day activities, dressing, bathing, medication management, and companionship |
| Needed when your loved one has a medical setback that requires medical care like chronic heart issues, wound care, and medical checkups. | Needed if your loved ones find it difficult to engage in daily activities like dressing, bathing, and mobility. |
| Provides some home care services | Does not provide home health care services |
As most senior citizens prefer to age in place, home health care services are ultimately the greatest option for them. But if you’re still skeptical about the benefits home care agencies provide, the following are just a few of the many advantages of having home health care services provided for you or a loved one:
Benefits of Having Home Healthcare Services
Independence
Independence is one of the core benefits of home health care. While most seniors may not want to agree that they’re struggling with daily activities, periodic use of home health services is still appreciated.
Home health helps older adults, but it also helps injured or sick individuals who’d love to recover from their Medical setbacks, all from the comfort of their homes.
Companionship
If you’re a family caregiver, you may not always be available for your loved one, and leaving them alone at home isn’t exactly the greatest choice.
Home health service providers bridge that gap and reduce any form of loneliness or depression that might be springing up from being left alone.
Curbs constant check-up trips to the hospitals
As you’ll have a team of professionals delivered right to your loved one’s doorstep, the constant need for check-ups is ultimately reduced as patients can call on any of the available professionals to discuss any of their problems and get a premium health care check. This helps in cutting down hospital costs.
Relieves family caregivers’ efforts
Taking premium care of your loved one can be draining, especially if you have to juggle it with other responsibilities such as family or career.
In the long run, you might end up experiencing caregiver burnout due to accumulated stress, and most often, one of your activities ends up bearing the brunt.
Hiring a home health care service fills this gap.
What’s more? You don’t necessarily have to use home health services 24/7; you can call on them to fill in whenever you’d love to take a breather. When you’re less occupied, you resume your duties and spend premium time with your loved ones without having to experience burnout.
Personalized care
One of the reasons most people run from assisted living homes, hospitals, or nursing care homes is the fact that they feel their loved ones wouldn’t get enough personalized care.
But home health care and in-home services kill that fear. This is because you’ll be receiving a team of professionals who are tailored towards the recovery and needs of your loved ones in your home’s comfort.
Flexibility of services
Patients do not have to worry about getting their needed medical care as home health care services cover them. From skilled professional services like wound care, administering injections, and therapy to daily activities like dressing, and bathing.
Quick recovery
It is often said that having close ones around when recovering quickens the rate at which your health improves. According to research, most patients tend to heal faster at home with their loved ones in comparison to those in hospitals and nursing homes.
Feeling safe and getting positive energy from your loved ones works better than medicine – and home health care provides an avenue for this.
Apart from the fact that it brings comfort to your loved one, healing at home also gives your elderly loved one a sense of safety as they are in a familiar environment.
But When Should You Start Looking for Home Health Care?
You might want to consider getting health care services if your loved one needs help with the following.
Wound care
If you or your loved one is recovering from a sickness or injury and you’d love to recover from home, you might want to get home health care services. Services such as dressing wounds, changing bandages, and drug administrations are also provided.
Speech therapy
If your loved one seems to have trouble communicating, following directions, or other language disorders, hearing loss, or experiencing speech impairments, getting home health services will be your best bet.
Home health care for speech therapy not only saves you from countless repetitive visits to hospitals and therapists, but it also helps in cutting down on the cost involved.
This service is needed for adults with stroke or brain injury.
Long-term care
Often, people with diseases like Alzheimer’s, stroke, or dementia that require a lengthy period to heal or improve loathe getting the required care from nursing homes or hospitals.
As healing in a place they’re familiar with increases their chances of getting better, you should consider finding an appropriate home health agency for them.
Short-term home health care
As opposed to long-term care, short-term home care, also referred to as temporary home aide services helps in treating minor health issues and helping individuals recover from medical setbacks.
Professional caregivers attend to these medical setbacks like low blood pressure, chronic health issues, and managing disabilities and special needs of your loved ones to help them get in shape.
Physical and occupational therapy
If improving your mobility or movement (locomotive activities) in hospitals sounds like a lot of hard work, you should consider getting an in-home physical or occupational therapist.
This is also a great option if you have a loved one who’s recovering from a stroke and relearning how to do day-to-day activities.
Follow up check-ups
Showing up at hospitals weekly or monthly to follow up on medical conditions can be tiring, which is why most individuals call on home health care providers.
Home health care is definitely for you or your loved one if you’d love to follow up on your medical condition regularly from the comfort of your home.
Home health care is an important part of your health care plan. So while you’re looking for one, It’s important to find a provider who you feel comfortable with and who has experience treating your type of condition. It’s also important to find a provider who is convenient for you and your family.
Factors to Consider When Hiring a Home Healthcare Provider
When choosing a home health care provider, consider the following factors:
Comforting Presence
Home health care can be a very emotional experience, especially if the patient has a serious condition or is very sensitive to people.
Therefore, It’s important to find a provider who has experience treating patients with the specific issues your loved one has and works well with other members of the patient’s care team, such as doctors, physical therapists, and nurses.
Convenience
Home health care can be both time and location-intensive, so it’s important to find a provider who can provide care within a reasonable distance from your home, or wherever you reside.
But if your loved one just needs a little help or some in-home care assistance and you reside in Nevada, Amy’s Eden Senior Care is your best shot.
Conclusion
Home health care services can be a great source of support and benefit. People with access to home health or in-home care services can stay independent and live a quality life as they journey into their twilight years.
Alternatively, you might want to weigh your options against related care services like assisted living, and in-home care, which Amy’s Eden provides.
If you want to learn more about how we can help your elderly loved one thrive, contact us today. We are excited to partner with you to provide exceptional care for your loved one.
