Home Care Agencies enable seniors to live independently in their own homes or stay with a family member through providing access to outside supportive care and assistance when needed.
Referred to by many names including Home Care Agencies, Home Health Agencies, In Home Agencies, Personal Care Agencies, Homemaker and Chore Services, Companion services.
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Home Health and Home Care agencies provide two main types of services that are custodial (skilled) or supportive (unskilled) care. Supportive services, provided by non-medical home care agencies, offer assistance with personal care such as bathing, grooming, dressing, in addition to help with meal preparation, housekeeping, and shopping. Assistance with self-administered medications, ambulation and exercises, and transportation to medical appointments is often requested. These custodial or supportive services can be arranged for any needed amount and frequency of time including up to twenty-four hours everyday or on a respite or temporary basis. Such services can help an aging person cope with their declining abilities, maintain their independence, and often avoid relocating.
Skilled services provided by medical home health agencies, offer nursing care, physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapy as well as social services and hospice care. Following a specific plan of care, and under the supervision of a skilled discipline such as a nurse or therapist, a certified home health aide may provide personal care for a limited time. These skilled services are provided on an intermittent basis, with scheduled home visits to homebound clients only, under a plan of treatment ordered by a physician. These skilled services can avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, hasten hospital discharges, and enable an elder to stay at home during acute illnesses or while convalescing.
Supportive and custodial services (unskilled) are most often contracted with a home care agency on a private-pay basis for the desired amount of time and frequency of care. Medicaid has community-based programs in some states, designed to provide the elderly with personal care assistance in their homes as an alternative to institutional care. Some long-term care insurance policies allow coverage for home health aides, but it is necessary to obtain these home services through a licensed agency in order to qualify for reimbursement. Another option is to hire your own caregiver privately which is usually less expensive and can allow more input into the decision making process. This choice can be optimal with some luck and persistence, however in the employer role, managing care can be very time consuming, if not frustrating at times. On the other hand, skilled care services that meet specific guidelines including a plan of treatment ordered by a physician, and adherence to strict homebound requirements, are usually reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private health insurance policies.
We have an excellent description of the Types of Home Care Agencies and a thorough description of the Types of Caregivers available, their training, limitations and application in a home care setting.
You might also consider our Caregiver Profile tool which matches the types of caregivers to your requirements.
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