Veterans Health Administration offers many programs for long term care to Veterans enrolled in its health care program. Among those is a benefits for home care for Veterans. These benefits enable Veterans to live at their home and maintain a good quality of life in the comfort of their home.
Home care for Veterans
Through these benefits, a qualified Home Health Aide would come home a few hours a week to help the Veteran with activities of daily living (ADL). Depending upon Veteran’s needs, the aide would help with activities such as
Personal hygiene such as bathing, dressing, grooming and incontinence care
Light housekeeping including laundry, linens and vacuuming
Meal preparation
Scheduling appointments, paying bills and running errands
Medication reminders
Transportation for appointments
Bed/wheel chair transfers and mobility
Even if the Veteran has a family member who acts as a primary caregiver, the aide can help provide respite care to the primary caregiver a few hours a week.
How do I Qualify?
These services are part of the standard medical benefits that Veterans receive. If you feel you need help with the above mentioned services, you should talk to your local VA case manager or social worker. Your case manager will perform the assessment to decide how many hours of care you need to help you with the activities of daily living.
How do I Find a Qualified Caregiver?
Home Health Aides are provided by an agency that has a contract with VA. Either your VA social worker can give you names of a few agencies or you can call a few of your local home care agencies and find out if they have a contract with VA and if they taking new Veteran clients. Either way, its good to do your own research to identify an agency that has a good reputation and also contracts with VA.
VA Aid & Attendance Pension
Its important to know that these home care benefits are separate from another program that VA has for Veterans and surviving spouses, commonly known as Aid & Attendance pension. As a Veteran you can benefit from both programs and if you are a surviving spouse, you can take advantage of the Aid & Attendance pension. Learn more about the Aid & Attendance pension and how to qualify for the benefit.
Life Foundation Home Care is contracted with VA to provide home care services in the Texas area. Call us at (832) 612-0472 or email us at info@lifefoundationhomecare.com to find out more and speak with qualified Veterans care specialists or visit our Veterans Home Care page dedicated to Veterans and surviving spouses’ home care needs.
Here is a good resource from VA to know more about the home care services.