What Is In Home Care?
In Home Care means you are getting your primary care at your residence. Depending upon your needs, you may be receiving care from a few hours a day to upto 24/7 monitoring and support. You receive help with personal hygiene, personal grooming, light housekeeping, laundry, transportation, companionship, meal preparation, transfers (mobility), medication reminders and any kind of specialized care depending upon your condition (dementia, after surgery, cancer, stroke and similar). Each patient’s needs are different and you work with the caregiver(s) to define a service plan that generally includes a combination of services.
This type of care setting is attractive to people for various reasons:
- If you are comfortable and prefer to live and receive care at their primary residence
- People who have short term needs, for example patients recovering from surgery or cancer treatment or patients who are transitioning from hospital to home or long term care setting
- People who need assistance few hours a day or or few days a week only to get by their life
- If who have a spouse or other family member as your primary caregiver and need assistance with certain specialized tasks like showering, transportation etc
Agency vs Private Caregiver
You have the option to go with an agency to staff caregivers or identify private caregivers through word of mouth or online referral sources. See here to understand the implication of going with an agency vs finding someone private. Key thing is to ensure you have qualified and reliable caregivers that are well trained and compassionate.
Rates are usually charged per hour and depends upon the kind of services and hours of service. Private caregivers will generally be cheaper compared to going with an agency since an agency provides a more comprehensive service vs just providing a caregiver.
Back to Care Options.
Also Known As: Provider Care, Personal Assistance, Non-medical care
Payment Sources: Private Pay, Medicaid (in some instances), Long Term Insurance, Veterans Benefits
Price Range: $15+ an hour depending upon if you are hiring someone privately or going with an agency, hours of care and types of services needed