Simply put, the focus of care is to indicate why the patient is on duty and what condition or conditions the agency will treat. People who receive home care have a variety of needs depending on their physical condition and their specific illness or injury. Patients may need reminders or help taking their medications. Patients often need help to walk (walk) and move (move) from bed to a chair or wheelchair, or to get in and out of the shower.
Many patients have adaptive equipment, such as walkers, wheelchairs, canes and prosthetic devices, to help them move around their home. Often, patients need help with activities of daily living (ADL), such as going to the bathroom, bathing, dressing, and eating. Some patients need help managing their budgets and buying and cooking food. Patients may need help to change simple wound dressings, to make and change bedding, to wash bedding, and to maintain a clean and safe home.
Patients who have recently undergone surgery can continue to recover in the comfort of their home while receiving support services to control bandages, complete a course of antibiotics and regain strength. Teens and children can also receive home care services to recover from an illness or injury or to receive assistance with activities of daily living. Newborns, children and adolescents at risk can receive home care services to avoid placement in foster care or institutions. When people receive support services in their home, they can stay connected to their family, neighborhood, community and places of worship.
Staying at home allows a person to be as independent as possible. Patients benefit from being surrounded by the people and things that matter most to them. This promotes their comfort and dignity and helps maintain family unity. An increasing number of people are receiving home care services. One of the reasons is that the cost of healthcare in hospitals is increasing and patients are discharged from hospitals before they have had a chance to fully recover (National Research Council, Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, 201. These patients often have complex needs and need support while they recover.) Specialized home care services that are medically necessary are often fully or partially covered by reimbursement through private or government-sponsored programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare.
Continuing to receive specialized medical support at home is a less expensive alternative to receiving care in a hospital. In the United States, there is a steady increase in the aging of the population, which in many cases has numerous health problems and needs (National Research Council, Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, 201. Family members may not always be able to provide the care that these patients need)). Some families may live far away, have work responsibilities, or need to care for young children. This makes it difficult to care for a loved one.
Sometimes family members can provide some of the care, but they can benefit from the respite (relief) that a home health agency can provide to alleviate the emotional and physical stress that comes with providing care. The United States also has a growing number of veterans returning to their homes with disabilities (National Research Council, Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, 201. Veterans with disabilities may need help treating injuries, completing activities of daily living, or receiving the emotional support provided by home care workers).In 1813, the Ladies Benevolent Society (LBS), a group of women volunteers from Charleston, South Carolina, initiated the first efforts to provide home care services (Buhler-Wilkerson, 200). These untrained women were the first to provide direct care services in people's homes. The LBS visited sick poor people in their homes and helped them obtain medicines, food and supplies, such as soap, bedding and blankets.
They also helped provide them with nurses, even though these nurses weren't there empowered. Based on this model, visiting nurse societies were established in major cities in the northern United States (Buhler-Wilkerson, 200). In 1890, there were 21 visiting nursing home care associations (Buhler-Wilkerson). The need for home nursing care continued to increase.
This need grew not only to care for the sick poor, but also to provide preventive services to babies, children and mothers, and to care for patients with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. While the death rate from infectious diseases has fallen, there is growing concern for prevention and good hygiene. In 1909, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company began sending nurses to the homes of its policyholders to provide nursing services (Buhler-Wilkerson). Their hope was that providing nursing home care would reduce the amount of death benefits requested.
They were the first organization to reimburse home nursing services. In the late 1920s, many of the home care agencies closed due to the poor economy and a shortage of nursing staff during World War II (Buhler-Wilkerson, 200). The establishment of hospitals gave rise to a model in which patients moved from receiving care in homes to hospitals. Despite experiments conducted by The Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York and Blue Cross to include home care services, home care coverage was not widespread at the time (Buhler-Wilkerson). However, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it became clear that there was once again a growing need of home care services.
People with chronic illnesses didn't necessarily have to be hospitalized. The cost of hospitalizations became apparent and the long-term effects of prolonged institutionalizations began to be studied (Buhler-Wilkerson). In the U.S. In the U.S., Medicare is a federal health insurance program.
Medicare now also pays for patients with kidney failure and certain disabilities. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (20), patients receiving home services through Medicare must be under the care of a doctor who certifies that they need skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, or occupational therapy. Patients must also be certified by their doctors to remain confined to their homes. This means that it's not safe for patients to leave their home or that they have a condition that makes it difficult to leave home.
Medicare provides “intermittent home care,” meaning that full-time home care isn't necessary. While Medicare usually pays the full cost of most covered home health care services, it doesn't pay 24 hours a day. Medicare may also cover up to 80% of the special equipment needed by the patient, such as a wheelchair or walker (USA). Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services).Medicaid is a joint state and federal health insurance program.
Coverage for patients will vary from state to state, and states may call it by other names, such as “Medi-Cal” or “Medical Assistance” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, p. 20. Medicaid provides coverage for low-income patients and families.
Eligibility for this program depends on income, the number of people in the household, and other circumstances. It's important to remember that not everyone is eligible for Medicare or Medicaid, and home care services may not be fully covered. Agencies that receive reimbursements through Medicare or Medicaid must meet certain guidelines, including the requirement that HHAs receive formal training and pass certification exams. Because of the growing need for home care services, and in an effort to reduce the costs of insurance programs such as Medicare, the need for home health aides (HHA) and personal care aides (PCA)) continues to increase.
If you have selected all of the answer options, you are correct. Anyone has the potential to need home care services. Home health care workers and personal care aides serve people of all ages, cultures, ethnicities, genders, and types of disability or illness. National Institute on Aging: The NIA, part of the National Institutes of Health, is a trusted source of information on healthy aging, care delivery and more.
You can search for home health companies on the Medicare Care Compare website or ask friends, your church or senior center, or other people you trust for recommendations. Many health care and support services may be provided outside the traditional health care environment, such as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, rehabilitation center, or long-term care environment. This level of interest suggests that HBPC programs are likely to continue to expand and evolve, incorporating advances in communications, medical information technology, and care management applications. As directed by your doctor, your team may include specialized home health care providers, such as a nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist.
Home health care provides support to people with physical or mental disabilities so that they can stay in their homes outside of an institution or long-term care placement. For example, personal care aides may not measure blood pressure or help patients take their medications. Medicare doesn't cover non-specialized personal home care services if that's the only type of care you need. Home palliative care is for patients who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness (a disease that cannot be cured) and who have a prognosis of six months or less.
Medicaid can also cover cleaning, meal preparation, transportation, personal care, and other types of help that Medicare doesn't cover. Medicare and home health care: a guide from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with detailed information on Medicare home health care coverage and frequently asked questions. It's important to follow the care plan and instructions of supervisors to protect yourself, the agency, and most importantly, the patient. Another important motivation for the reform is to focus on patient-centered care7 and on increasing the participation of patients and their families in healthcare decisions and management.
