Home Health Care: Some Basic Information

Home health care is just what the name suggests - health care services that can be taken care of in your home. There are quite a number of these possible home-based services, and they can be cheaper, as useful, and more convenient than the services you could get in a hospital or other nursing facility. The point of this is to take care of an illness, injury, or other ailment. The idea is to get your independence, confidence, and self-sufficient behavior back on target as quickly as possible in your own environment. Potential home health service options include caring for wounds, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, patient and care-giver education, intravenous and nutrition therapy, injections, and monitoring serious illness and unstable health status. There is also health aid, to help with things like getting into and out of bed, getting dressed, baths, eating, and bathroom activities. This is also considered things like housekeeping duties, laundry, shopping, and cooking. There are lists of agencies that do home health care work. Check your local phone book, or look up information on the internet to find local places and check what services they actually provide. Some health insurers like Medicare will only cover the costs of this if the home health agency has been certified by them. When present, the staff will check what you're eating and drinking, check things like blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and breathing, make sure that you are taking your prescriptions, drugs, and other treatments appropriately, check if you're in pain, be aware of the safety in your home, teach you to care for yourself over time, and coordinate your care with you, your doctor, and others who treat you. It's very important that you understand how your plan of care works. An agency member will consult with you and your doctor to make this happen. The plan of care includes what services you need, which care professionals should give those services, how often those services are required, what medical equipment is needed, and what results you expect. All involved will review this plan as often as required to do the job properly. If you are getting home health care, you should ask yourself questions regularly to make sure you're be treated appropriately. For instance, if the staff is polite, if they explain everything to you in a way you can understand, if they respond quickly to your requests, if they check in with you physically and emotionally with each visit, and if they regularly suggest changes to improve your situation. With all these things in mind, now you know enough to get started researching to determine if home health care is the right decision for you and your family.