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Simplify Your Search for Senior Housing |
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
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Home Care and Home Health Resources and Tools
With the help of leading home care and home healthcare professionals, we've assembled the best resources available to help you learn about, assess, and choose the right home care options for your needs.
We recommend you download and print each of our checklists. You'll find them invaluable tools when evaluating different home care agencies to assist with the care you provide for a loved one. You'll also find our Home Health Care Glossary and Frequently Asked Questions sections to be great resources as well.
Search for Home Healthcare Providers near you
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| Downloadable Checklists, Worksheets and Documents
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- Glossary
- Frequently Asked Questions
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Accreditation
A designation issued by an independent body to an organization. The accrediting body establishes standards and requirements for organizations in a field or industry. To become accredited, the provider implements practices that meet the established standards and requirements.
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Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Physical functions that an independent person performs each day, including bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, walking or wheeling, and transferring into and out of bed.
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Acute Care
Care that has recovery as its primary goal; typically requires the services of a physician, nurse, or other skilled professional and usually provided in a doctor's office or hospital; usually short term.
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Adult Day Care
Services provided to seniors at a community-based center for 8-10 hours during the day. Services are social and health related (i.e. planned activities, assistance with ADLs, and physical and mental exercise) and may cater to seniors with special needs such as memory care. Transportation to and from the center is often provided and meals and snacks are prepared and served.
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Alzheimer’s Disease
A progressive and fatal brain disorder which destroys brain cells and causes degradation of memory, thinking and behavior. The most common form of dementia.
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Area Agency on Aging (AAA)
A non-profit organization that receives government support to organize and administer programs and services to older Americans on a local level. Their service area typically includes a county or group of counties. They also specialize in providing resources to seniors of below average financial means.
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Assessment
An evaluation of a person's functional, social, medical and nursing needs which determines if the person should be admitted to a nursing facility or may be eligible for home healthcare.
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Assisted Living Community
A group living arrangement that is designed to meet the needs of people who cannot live independently but do not require nursing facility services. Most provide help with some or all ADLs and IADLs. Types and sizes of facilities vary, ranging small homes to large apartment-style complexes. Small assisted living facilities with few residents (i.e. 4-8 residents) are often referred to as Residential Care Homes.
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Q: What is the difference between home care and home healthcare?
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| A: Home care focuses much more on non-medical care such as companionship services or personal care services where home healthcare focuses on more clinical care that is prescribed by a physician. |
| Q: How is a home care agency different from a professional caregiver? |
| A: A professional caregiver, similar to caregivers you might see listed in your local newspaper or on Craigslist, have not necessarily completed any formal caregiver training. With most home care agencies, each of their caregivers generally undergo reference and background checks and are also trained, bonded and insured. Also, agencies will have flexible availability based on your varying needs. |
| Q: What services does home care provide? |
A: Home care providers generally provide services that fit into 2 categories:
1. Companionship Services
Conversation and companionship
Meal preparation
Light housekeeping
Errand services
Medication reminders
Incidental transportation
Laundry and linen washing
Recreational activities and crafts
2. Personal Care Services
Bathing
Mobility
Transferring and positioning
Incontinence care
Toileting
Feeding
Oral hygiene
Dressing
Services may vary based on location and differing state licensing restrictions so you’ll need to contact your local Home Care provider to learn about what other services they offer. |
| Q: What services does home healthcare provide? |
A: Along with the personal care services offered by home care, home healthcare may also provide the following if compliant with state licensing regulations:
Coordination of home medical equipment
Distribution of prescribed medications
Wound care
IV Therapy
Disease and pain management
Physical, occupational, and speech therapy |
| Q: How can I pay for home care? Will my insurance cover it? |
| A: Many long-term care insurance companies will reimburse for home care services but you will need to contact your insurance carrier for more details. Medicare will only cover home healthcare services provided by a Medicare-certified provider. However, you can find other alternatives for covering your long-term care by visiting www.seniorcarefunding.com. |
| Q: How do I recognize a quality home care or home healthcare company? |
| A: Each state has its own requirements for doing business as a Home Care provider so some states require a special license where others do not. You can obtain licensing standards and quality review information from your state Department of Health or Department of Social and Health Services. Also, for any Medicare-certified home healthcare provider, they must undergo a quality review as part of their certification process and their review reports are accessible on the medicare.gov website. You can also ask for references from each provider or ask hospital discharge planners or a geriatric care manager for a referral as well. |
| Q: What should I look for in a home care or home healthcare provider? |
| A: There are many things you need to consider when choosing a home care provider such as the training level of their staff, payment policies, and the types of care offered. To give you a better idea of the kinds of questions you might want to ask a provider you are considering, we recommend you download the checklist listed above which you can fill out when talking to each provider. |
| Q: What are the "Quality Measures" listed on each home healthcare provider page? |
| A: |
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Search for Home Healthcare Providers near you
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