Are Home Care Services Right For Me?

Home Care Services: The National Institute on Aging calls it “Aging in Place.” You’d prefer to stay in your own home as you get older, but it’s not that simple. It’s not easy to admit that as you age, you start to have more and more difficulty with everyday tasks. Even if you’re generally healthy, the aging process can rob you of the strength and energy to do things like cleaning, organizing, and even personal care. You don’t want to be a burden to your family. And you’re certainly not ready to go to a nursing home or other assisted living facility. But you’ve found it more and more difficult to keep up. It may be a good idea to consider home care assistance.

What is Home Care?

The term “home care”  refers to having an in-home caregiver. An in-home caregiver can assist with many basic needs such as:

• Personal care, such as bathing, dressing and toileting
• Light housekeeping, like vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, and laundry
• Meal preparation and planning, including grocery shopping, meal preparation, and clean up

The caregivers are different than “home health” nurses you may have heard of. Those professionals provide in-home medical care to people with conditions that are serious enough to need constant care.

How Do I Receive In-Home Care?

First, an assessment is made about your needs. This is typically done by an area agency on aging or senior services worker who will ask you questions about your daily needs and any difficulties you have in meeting them. They may come to your home to see how much cleaning needs to be done and interview you to evaluate your needs. After the assessment, they will write a report that determines what kind of services you are eligible for from your local, county, or state agency.

They’ll also help you connect to a home care agency that will provide these services. In some cases, it may be possible for you to have a family member become a paid caregiver to assist you; this can help ease their burden in trying to care for you while maintaining another job. Regardless, you will have the ability to meet and approve your caregiver.

How Does Home Care Work?

Depending on the results of your assessment, you’ll receive a detailed Care Plan. This will describe what tasks your home care aide will perform and how long they should take to complete each week. You’ll then meet with your caregiver to determine what schedule works for both of you. As you may expect, there will be some paperwork along the way, but your home care agency will help you complete it.

Should I Get an In-Home Caregiver?

There’s no risk to you or any obligation in asking for an assessment. Additionally, with many agencies including Home Care powered by AUAF, you’ll never be asked to pay for home care services yourself, as these programs are funded through government or community programs. [

Home Care Powered by AUAF Can Assist You All the Way

If you’d like your family member to be your in-home caregiver, we can provide required credentials and training. If you’d like to be matched with a caregiver, we can help with that, too. As a home care agency, we’re here to serve you by providing the best possible home care services. Call us at 773-274-9262 or contact us to find out more information on how we can help.