Home Care Services for the Elderly: To be very specific, the term home care is meant to be giving supportive care or medical care provided in the home. It is also known as home health care that includes a broad level of care provided by skilled or trained medical
Home Care Services for Elderly
professionals, including expert nursing care, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy.
At the same time, home health care may also include some sort of skilled but non-medical care, for instance, medical social assistance or services in exchange for daily living from an efficient or expert home health aide.
According to varieties of Medical Program, home health care is completely a unique form of care setting. This is not because this care type is not only provided in your home, but this care is somewhat more convenient, less costly, and just as ‘EFFICIENT’ as the care provided in a hospital environment or you may say in a skilled nursing facility.
What Is The Goal Of Home Care?
To have a complete idea about home care or home health care, it is very ‘IMPORTANT’ to know the goals of home care.
Well, the primary goals of home health care services or assistance are to assist the individuals (fit for the scenario) for improving their current level of function along with living their life with a greater level of independence, to promote the individuals (clients’) highest level of physical and mental well-being and lastly, to help the patients staying at their home – avoiding any kind of hospitalization or other types of admission to any type of medical care institutions.
Doctors may refer the patients to be eligible for home care assistance. At the same time, home nursing care-related services can also be requested by the patient or, his/her family members.
Some Statistical Data About Home Care Services
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in the United States of America, around 8,090 home care agencies provide medical care-related services for 2.4 million senior and somewhat disabled patients each year.
The percentages of home health care patients based on common diagnoses are as follows:
- Circulatory Disease – 31 percent.
- Heart Disease – 16 percent.
- Poisoning and Injury – 15.9 percent.
- Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Disease – 14.1 percent.
- Respiratory Disease – 11.6 percent.
Home Care Services for Elderly – The Care You Need In Your Home
Home care is regarded to be the key to getting the optimal quality of life ever possible. There are varieties of reasons for which doctors refer their patients to go for choosing home health care services.
Home care can enable security, safety, and an increased level of independence. At the same time, home care like elder care, respite care, or senior care can ease the management of any kind of currently running medical condition. Also, it can help you avoid any sort of unnecessary hospitalization. Besides, it can offer aid with recovery after any type of injury, illness, or hospital stay – the highest sort of care given in a comfortable home environment setting.
Home Care Services for Elderly may include the following:
- Helping the client or patient with daily activities like bathing and dressing.
- Assisting in managing tasks safely inside the house.
- Offering companionship.
- Therapy along with rehabilitative services.
- Short-term or long-term nursing care for the disease, disability or illness.
Types of Home Care
In the United States of America, currently, there are the following types of Home Care Services provided by Home Care Agency:
- Medicare Home Health Benefit
- Medicaid Home Health Benefit
- Veterans Administration Home Health care
- Long-term Home Care
Let’s have an in-depth discussion about each Home Care Services for the Elderly type which is basically known as advance home care.
Medicare Home Health Benefit
This home care service includes skilled nursing care along with therapy services that are provided to the clients or patients at their own dwelling place. To get the Medicare Home Health Benefit, a patient has to be under the care of an expert physician. Besides, the patient has to meet the definition of being homebound. And, the patient must have to be eligible for the need for such kind skilled medical services or assistance on an irregular basis.
At the same time, patients may require this kind of in-home care after the event of hospital discharge. Or, the situation is also applicable if they require any kind of rehabilitation services or assistance.
Medicare Home Health Benefit is a type of home care-related service that is provided by highly skilled nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and even medical social workers.
Additionally, Home Health aides also provide senior home care services to those patients who require such kinds of skilled services.
Medicaid Home Health Benefit
The term Medicaid Health Benefit is a type of home care that is somewhat broader than previously explained Medicare Home Health Benefit. And, it varies from state to state In the United States of America.
This Home Health Care service offers a combination of highly skilled professional care and medical care services. In this case, each State has to provide home health services along with transportation to care.
As it has already been mentioned that may differ in different states of the United States of America, so each state can offer different medical services such as private-duty nursing assistance, pediatric care, occupational, physical, and speech therapy, personal care, and other forms of care management.
Veterans Administration Home Health Care
At this moment in time, they’re different types of home health care services available to Veterans which are mentioned below:
- Skilled Home Health Care (SHHC) Services
- Home-Based Primary Care
- Homemaker and Home Health Aide Care
Skilled Home Health Care (SHHC) Services
The term Skilled Home Health Care (SHHC) Services include some short-term health care services which may include therapy visits, nursing care, and social work support as well.
Home-Based Primary Care
This sort of home health care is eligible for Veterans with complicated health needs like multiple chronic conditions. Under Home Based Primary care, health care may include primary care visits to the clients’ or patients’ living place, mental health services, and case management services as well.
Homemaker and Home Health Aide Care
The term Homemaker and Home Health Aide Care is a type of home health care that is mainly provided to Veterans to assist them with their day-to-day activities in daily living.
Long-term Home Care
Home Care is meant as a broad term that includes all types of care offered to the patients in their own residences. Home Care mainly includes Medicare-skilled professionals and their medical services, skilled or personal care through Medicaid along with private level medical pay programs.
At the same time, Home Care may also consist of social services offered by State Agencies because of Aging, the care offered by Private-Duty skilled nurses.
Additionally, home care services are provided to a wide range of patients – the disabled, the elderly, children, and U.S. Veterans.
In short, the ultimate meaning of Home Care is the term that is used to describe all forms of services, care, and equipment provided in the home of a patient through the different state, local, federal, insurance, and private pay options.
Who Are Eligible for Home Health Care?
We have divided this section into 3 categories which are as follows:
Veterans Administration
Medicare
Medicaid
Read further to have a piece of detailed knowledge about these 3 types of patients who would be eligible for home health care services.
Veterans Administration
Patient Characteristics
The patients under this criterion are the U.S. Veterans who have enrolled in the Veterans Administration program and currently living with a chronic, complex or disabling disease and a form of a short-term need for skilled medical assistance or services with the activities of their daily living.
Care Covered
For these patients, the following types of home health care services are provided:
- In-Home and Community-based Care.
- The Home Based Primary Care Program.
In-Home and Community Based Care
This form of home health care services may include skilled home health aide services and expert home health care, home-based primary care, and community adult daycare.
The Home Based Primary Care Program
This sort of home health care services may include occupational, physical, and speech therapy, health status monitoring, and treatment planning, personal care, and chronic disease management care.
Medicare
Patient Characteristics
Generally, patients who are eligible for Medicare benefits must have to be 65 years old or, older, disabled for some reason, or currently suffering from End-Stage Renal Disease.
To become eligible for getting the home health benefit, the patient has to be under the care of an expert physician, along with a definite plan of care that is reviewed by the doctor regularly.
In this case, the patient must need one of the following:
- Physical therapy.
- Intermittent skilled nursing assistance or care.
- Speech-language pathology care or service.
- Continuous occupational therapy.
At the same time, the patient must also be homebound, which means – they cannot leave home without having help like a wheelchair or their leaving requires considerable and taxing effort, or even their leaving home is not at all recommended due to the severe condition of the patient.
Care Covered
For the above patient type, the home health care that is applicable includes skilled nursing care, occupational therapy, physical therapy, medical social services or assistance, speech-language pathology, personal care and functional support from any kind of health aide, and even access to the required types of medical supplies like wound dressings at the time order as a part of care.
Medicaid
Patient Characteristics
Under the existing laws along with the Affordable Care Act, the national minimum eligibility for the Medicaid program requires a patient to be either ‘Medically Needy’ or ‘Categorically Needy’.
The categorically needy adults whose age is below 65 will be eligible for Medicaid benefits if their income is equal to or below 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
Also, if the patient is one of the following:
- 65 or older.
- Disabled or blind.
- Has a child or expecting a child while the partner is not present.
- Indigent or incapacitated.
And, the patients whose income is above the mentioned threshold can be eligible for Medicaid benefits if they are medically needy.
In this particular case, those patients may become eligible for receiving the Medicaid benefits if the cost of their medical bills makes a reduction in their income level that is mentioned in the threshold earlier.
Care Covered
For these patients the following medical assistance is provided:
- Home health services.
- Rehabilitation services.
- Therapy services.
- Personal care services.
- Transportation services to access such kind of medical care.
Conclusion
Home care is a form of medical care that is often regarded as a better sort of medical help service than that of the hospitals or other forms of medical institutions.
At present, numerous home care agencies are providing home health care services to millions of people all across the United States of America.
When you decide to take home health care services from a home care agency, it is always better to look for information about their services from valid and reliable sources.
With time, the urge to get eldercare or senior care is growing faster. So, the home care services or assistance offered by the home care agencies should be improved. At the same time, skilled nursing care management should be improved as well.
For that purpose to be fulfilled, medical training institutions should conduct the nursing courses appropriately. This will help o provide senior home care along with advanced home care as expected by the eligible patients.
The discussion made above represents a clear picture of the current home care services available in the United States of America.