Home healthcare is a type of care that assists individuals in recovering from illness, injury or surgery. It also allows them to remain independent at home for extended periods of time.
Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance often cover the costs of home health services. Before beginning care at a nursing facility, make sure you understand which services and supplies are covered under your coverage – it’s essential to check.
Skilled Nursing
Skilled nursing is a specialization of medical care provided by licensed health professionals such as nurses and therapists. These services may be needed temporarily to rehab from an illness or injury, or they could last long-term for those needing frequent or constant monitoring due to chronic medical conditions.
Skilled care can be provided in a range of settings, including the patient’s home. When prescribed by a doctor, these skilled services may be covered by Medicare and some private health insurance policies.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy (OT) utilizes daily activities and meaningful tasks to assist people in preventing, lessening or adapting to disabilities. This is especially helpful for those with birth defects, ADHD, juvenile arthritis, autism or severe injuries or burns.
OTs assess individual abilities, activities of daily living and environmental influences. They take into account family and other support systems as well. Together with the person, they create an individualized plan of care which includes both short- and long-term objectives; it may involve using adaptive equipment or modifications to the environment.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is a patient treatment option that can assist you in regaining mobility, relieving pain and regaining independence. It may be used as an independent service or part of an integrated treatment plan for other services like skilled nursing or speech therapy.
Physical therapists employ a range of treatments to reduce pain and stiffness, improve motion and strength, and boost mobility. These may include heat or ice packs, ultrasound, light therapy or electric stimulation.
Speech Therapy
Speech therapy is an invaluable home healthcare service that can significantly improve the quality of life for those suffering from various disorders and conditions. A speech-language pathologist offers a range of treatment options tailored to each individual’s specific requirements.
A speech therapist can collaborate with family members and professional caregivers to bring speech therapy services directly into the home, alleviating the burden of travel time and other physical requirements that traditional office visitation requires.
Dietary Services
Home health care is all about maximizing independence for patients of all ages and abilities. Utilizing skilled nurses and aides de francaises to manage an array of daily care and therapeutic regimens, patients in homecare are treated like royalty – or at least their food intake is managed by a dietician! As its name implies, nutrition plays a particularly significant role for many recipients of home health services.
Medical Social Services
Medical social workers provide counseling and assistance to patients, both at home and in the hospital, who have been diagnosed with illness or are experiencing physical or emotional distress due to a medical condition. By connecting them with resources like community assistance programs or support group referrals, these workers help improve quality of life while decreasing hospital readmissions.
Medical social workers typically perform psychosocial assessments to assess patient needs, as well as those of their families and support systems. Once identified, these findings are communicated back to the medical team for optimal patient care delivery and outcomes.
Transportation
Transportation is an integral component of home healthcare services. Clients need transportation for medical appointments, grocery shopping trips and social visits, among other reasons.
Many home care agencies have responded to this need by teaming up with ride-hailing services like Lyft or Uber. While this may be the sexiest way to deliver home healthcare, it comes with new planning and logistic challenges as well as some risks. Fortunately, you can mitigate some of these concerns through employee training, comprehensive transport policies and proper insurance coverage for both your rideshare partners and homecare company.
Respite
Full-time caregiving can be a grueling task, especially if your loved one has chronic illness or is elderly. Respite care offers you and your family a much needed break from the demands of caring for someone special.
Respite care can be provided in many places, such as your home, a healthcare facility or special adult day-care centers or residential facilities with overnight stays. No matter whether the needs are short-term or long-term, respite care helps restore mental and physical wellbeing.