The term home health care is not confined to a single definition. It’s a broad term, referring to a range of home-based health care services and general assistance and patients with various medical needs can benefit. But you might be asking, why choose home health care instead of hospital care, for example? Well, carry on reading to find out more about the benefits of home health care and what patients are most eligible.
Home Health Care Is a Great Alternative
Home health care is about caring for the individual and helping them be as comfortable as possible while they recover or go about their daily lives. It’s also very convenient because patients can enjoy the luxury of receiving certain services which would typically be in-hospital treatments, but from home.
You can recover, manage your illness, or age gracefully in a setting that’s most comfortable for you – your own home. This is why home care is better, than so many alternative for a lot of families.
Who Can Make Use of Home Health Care Services?
Some examples of persons who could use home health care services include anyone who’s recently been hospitalized, people who are living with disabilities or people suffering from chronic illnesses. It’s also particularly useful for the frail and elderly.
Why Choose Home Health Care over In-hospital Care?
You might be worried about the quality of the service you’ll get at home as opposed to staying in a hospital. The short of it is you don’t need to worry about a thing. The personnel are as experienced and qualified as any, which means that the level of service you get with home health care is the same as what you would get at a hospital. You’re still getting the best care, but you get to enjoy it at home. A win-win!
Care and Assistance Is Personalized
A major perk about home health care is that services are tailored to the patient’s unique needs, making in-home care very flexible. Patients can specify what their daily needs are and assistance can then be provided to ensure those needs are met.
Services Go above and Beyond
Services as well as assistance are not limited to just the medical. Perhaps you or your loved one is worried about not being mobile enough to perform basic, everyday tasks?
Fortunately, home health care makes provision for this by offering a range of services that have to do with the day-to-day life of the patient. These include helping with chores and other housework, running errands, transportation, as well as companionship. Also, if either you or your loved one is unsure about the safety of your home, an aging-in-place specialist can pay you a visit and help you remodel it to make it more suitable for an elderly person to live in.
Studies Favor In-home Care
Studies have shown that your environment can have a direct impact on your recovery. Research has proven that patients who recover from surgery and illness actually recover faster when they do so at home. Furthermore, patients are less likely to develop an infection from being exposed to germs and, therefore, are also less likely to be readmitted.
Home Health Care for the Disabled
People living with disabilities have very specific health care needs. It’s understandable that you might want to take care of your loved one yourself, but hiring someone to help you take care of them can be a good idea. It can become quite taxing to look after someone on your own, so having a skilled professional to give you a hand can afford you the opportunity to take some time to yourself and relax, knowing that your loved one is in good hands.
Sometimes, caring for one disabled person can take so much effort, it’s simply more work than you can handle yourself. Disabled persons in need of tube feeding and other specialized medical care can get qualified medical care at home to ensure everything is done properly.
Why Choose Home Health Care over Old Age Homes?
For some, the busyness of life can mean that we often don’t have the time to look after our aging loved ones. Having to juggle work, kids and a social life can be too much to handle. This is when many people start thinking about the possibility of placing their aging parents in an old age home. But before you do that, you should think about some of the disadvantages of old age homes.
Divided Attention
Old age homes are meant for taking care of many elderly people at once. This means that care and attention needs to be split between all the residents, which means that sometimes, care might not be delivered quick enough to those that need it.
Home health care, on the other hand, gives you peace of mind, knowing that your loved one is getting the full one-on-one attention they need – when they need it. Whether they need assistance for a few hours each day or 24/7 assistance, their needs can be met.
Familiarity
Living in an old age home can feel isolating. This is especially true if the facility is far from family. Moving to an environment that is unfamiliar can be quite distressing, especially for seniors suffering from conditions such as dementia. Remembering basic things like where to find the bathroom can be so challenging, it truly becomes disheartening.
In-home care allows your loved one to remain in an environment they are used to and most comfortable in.
Old Age Homes Can be Lonely
Living in an old age home can be lonely, especially if family can’t visit on a regular basis. Being away from family can make seniors feel lonely, which can have a negative impact on their overall health. In-house care can eliminate this by providing companionship, allowing them to have someone visit them every day, who they can talk to so that they don’t feel so alone all the time. Seniors can also easily stay close to their children in the same town or on the same property, as locating a home for the elderly won’t be an issue.
Independence
Old age homes can sometimes lack that homely feel. This is further reinforced by the schedules they run by – seniors go from being accustomed to your own routine to being forced to adopt a new, unfamiliar one. This can make them feel less independent and like they’ve lost their freedom. Home health care makes it possible for seniors to hold onto their independence by continuing to live by their own routine.
Home Health Care Is a Better Option
With all these benefits, it’s easy to see why choosing in-home care for your aging relatives could be more beneficial than an old age home. For the elderly, home health care aims to give them the supportive care they need while still helping them maintain a level of independence.
Home Health Care Services
Patients can receive a whole range of services according to their specific situation. Really, it’s all about figuring out what the patient needs and planning care accordingly. This can range from the most basic to the most specialized.
If, for instance, you have been injured or you’ve just had surgery, your doctor can let you know what type of care you’ll need and your home health care service can work according to your doctor’s recommendations. However, you don’t necessarily need a doctor’s prescription to make use of home health care services.
Home Nurse
This is one of the most common home care services and entails a registered nurse providing care to a patient in the form of administering medication, wound dressing, intravenous therapy, pain control, as well as monitoring the patient’s general health for instance.
Health Aides
Health aides typically provide general care and assistance to elderly patients, but they can also care for younger patients. Some of the everyday tasks health aides assist with include:
- Helping patients get out of bed
- Ensuring patients move around safely
- Assisting in maintaining personal hygiene and dressing
- Cooking for patients can helping them eat
- Helping patients take prescription medications on time and as prescribed
- Offering companionship
While health aides aren’t qualified nurses, they serve an undeniably important role in home health care.
Occupational Therapy
Stroke patients can relearn daily duties through a personalized occupational therapy care plan and in-home therapy sessions. Children with learning disabilities or people with severe mental health problems can also benefit from occupational therapy to help them cope with the demands of everyday life.
Physical Therapy
A physical therapist can help them patients with musculoskeletal injuries and challenges. Improving patients’ mobility and helping injuries heal properly is an important focus. Through specialized physical therapy care, many patients are able to improve or regain the use of their muscles and joints after injury, stroke or trauma.
Respiratory Therapy
Patients suffering from acute or chronic respiratory problems caused by asthma, lung cancer, emphysema or pneumonia can benefit from respiratory therapy. Respiratory therapists can help many patients with rehabilitation, but often treatment focuses of management of untreatable conditions through managing life support
So, Why Choose Home Health Care?
Home health care is an alternative option to in-hospital rehabilitation and recovery, as well as old age home care. What makes it unique is that you can still experience the best quality medical care without having to leave your home. What’s more, this care is just as safe and effective as alternatives, making it an option you well worth considering. Rest assured that you or your loved one will be taken care of in the most respectful, compassionate and professional of manner.
