Personal Assistance

• Personal assistancenurse chris image by John Keith from Fotolia.com
  
  Personal assistance care in the home is generally nonmedical in nature, but home care professionals are trained and licensed. Personal assistance care provides reliable and consistent companionship and care for a homebound people. The types of services provided include help with dressing, eating, daily hygiene and other assistance in the bathroom. These services can also include monitoring medications, but not dispensing them. Personal assistance care can be provided on both a short- and long-term basis.
  
  

Home Health Care

• Home health caremedicine image by Joyce Wilkes from Fotolia.com
  
  Working under the direction of a patient's doctor, home health care brings skilled nursing right into the home. This type of service involves a wide range of medical care, including medication and IV monitoring, wound care, monitoring vital signs and pain management. These services can provide long-term care for chronic illness or short-term care following surgery. The patient's home is evaluated and modifications are suggested, which sometimes requires special equipment such as a hospital-type bed.
  
  

Hospice

• Hospice careanaethesia equipment image by JASON WINTER from Fotolia.com
  
  Hospice care is provided for patients with advanced illnesses and is often called end-of-life care. Hospice covers a range of care in tandem with a physician. Hospice often includes nurses who are skilled with pain management, social workers to help the patient and loved ones adjust and plan, and aides to assist with daily needs. Hospice care in the home gives patients the comfort of familiar surroundings at a most difficult time.
  
  

Considerations

• The cost of home health care should be considered.money image by Yury Shirokov from Fotolia.com
  
  It is important to consider whether the needs of a patient can be adequately met by home care services. Many factors should be considered in this decision, such as appropriate space in the home, the hours of services needed, insurance coverage and the overall health of the patient. In many cases, insurance covers these services. However, because personal assistance services are not strictly medical, they generally are not paid for by insurance unless prescribed by a physician.
  
  

Benefits

• Home health care can help a patient recover.family image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia.com
  
  Home care can be more cost effective than a nursing home stay in some cases. Many of the services are covered by Medicare and private insurance. Beyond providing excellent care in the comfort of the patient's home, the nurse or personal assistant can provide a valuable service by assessing the home atmosphere and the patient's interactions with others. This insight can have positive implications for both the patient's physical and mental well-being.