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1.1: Introduction

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    67787

    • Erin O'Hara-Leslie, Amdra C. Wade, Kimberly B. McLain, SUNY Broome
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    Introduction

    Many health care and support services may be provided outside of the traditional health care environment such as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, rehabilitation center, or long-term care environment. Receiving care within the home allows individuals to remain in the comfort of their residence, surrounded by loved ones, while their health care and daily living needs are managed. Patients who receive home health care services have a team of health care workers together help patients and their families manage their needs.

    As part of this team, the Home Health Aide (HHA)/Personal Care Aide (PCA) play a vital role. Home health aides and personal care aides often spend more time with patients than any other team member. Being a home health aide/personal care aide is a very rewarding career as you have an opportunity to play a very important role in the home care team. You will meet many different people and work in a variety of settings. You will often have the chance to work with the same patients and families for a long period of time. You will have the chance to get to know your patients and families in a very personal and special way as you work with them to meet their health care and daily living needs.

    Home health aide and personal care aide are two of the fastest growing occupations. There is high demand for home health aide and personal care aide workers, with many opportunities for employment. This course will provide you with the background necessary to begin working toward a career as a home health aide/personal care aide. There are many similarities between home health aides and personal care aides. They both provide assistance to patients with eating, bathing, managing a budget, cleaning, and provide personal care. However, one important difference is that personal care aides may not perform any medical related service or task as a home health aide may. For example, personal care aides may not take blood pressures or assist patients with taking their medications.

    What Is Home Health Care?

    Home care or home health care is supportive care that is provided in the home. Home care allows a person to remain in the comfort of their home while they are receiving services to recover from illness, injury, or disability. Home care services are also provided for people who have chronic conditions such as diabetes, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, heart failure, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Home care may be provided for people who have cognitive or physical disabilities to help them complete activities of daily living. Home care may also be provided for patients who are on hospice. Hospice home care is for patients who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness (an illness that cannot be cured) and who have a prognosis of six months or less. Hospice home care allows people with a terminal illness to remain in the comfort of their homes, surrounded by familiar people and things.

    People who receive home care have a variety of needs depending on their physical condition and specific disease or injury. Patients may need reminders or help to take their medications. Patients often need assistance with ambulation (walking) and transferring (moving) from a bed to a chair or wheelchair, or getting in and out of the shower. Many patients have adaptive equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, canes, and prosthetic devices that assist them in moving about their home. Often, patients require help with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as toileting, bathing, dressing, and eating. Some patients need help with managing their budget, and with purchasing and cooking food. Patients may need assistance with changing simple dressings on wounds, making and changing their bed linens, doing laundry, and maintaining a safe and clean home.

    Who Receives Home Care Services?

    Home health services help people of all ages who are recovering from an illness, operation, or injury to remain in their home and avoid an unnecessary hospitalization or skilled nursing facility placement. Home health care provides support for people with physical or mental disabilities so that they may remain at home out of an institution or long-term care placement. Home health services are provided to people who are living with chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, HIV/AIDS, congestive heart failure, and asthma. Many chronic conditions are complex to manage and require the use of various technological devices and equipment such as a glucose meter, blood pressure monitor, and adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs. Many people have conditions that require special diets to be prepared and followed. Assisting patients who have chronic diseases to manage their conditions within the home allows them independence within the comfort of their own home.

    Patients who have recently had surgery may continue to recover within the comfort of their home while receiving supportive services to manage dressings, complete a course of antibiotics, and regain their strength. Adolescents and children may also receive home care services to recover from illness or injury or to receive assistance with activities of daily living. At-risk newborns, children, and teenagers may receive home care services to avoid foster care or institutional placement. When people receive supportive services within their home, they are able to remain connected with their family, neighborhood, community, and places of worship. Remaining in the home allows a person to be as independent as possible. Patients benefit by being surrounded by the people and things they most care about. This promotes their comfort and dignity and helps to maintain the family unit.

    An increasing number of people are receiving home care services. One of the reasons for this is that the cost of medical care in hospitals is rising, and patients are being discharged from hospitals sooner than they have had a chance to fully recover (National Research Council, Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, 2011). These patients often have complex needs and require support as they recuperate. Medically-necessary skilled home care services are often covered in full or in part by reimbursement through private or government-sponsored programs like Medicaid and Medicare. Continuing to receive skilled medical support within the home is a less expensive alternative than care received within a hospital.

    There is a steady increase in the aging population within the United States, many of whom have numerous health issues and needs (National Research Council, Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, 2011). Family members may not always be able to provide the care these patients need. Some families may live far away, have work responsibilities, or need to care for small children. This makes providing care for a loved one difficult. Sometimes, families may be able to provide some of the care, but may benefit from respite (relief) that a home health agency can provide from the emotional and physical stress of caregiving. The United States also has a growing number of veterans returning home with disabilities (National Research Council, Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, 2011). Veterans with disabilities may require help with the care of injuries, completion of activities of daily living, or with the emotional support home care workers provide.

    Advances in technology, medicine, and disease prevention have extended the lives of people living with chronic diseases. People living with chronic conditions require monitoring and health care interventions. Chronic illnesses are often progressive (become worse) and patients living with these types of conditions require advanced care as their disease progresses. For example, patients with heart failure or HIV/AIDS require disease-specific care to manage their numerous medications, treatments, appointments, diet, and completion of activities of daily living (ADLs). Many people want to be as independent as possible and are more comfortable at home. Providing supportive home health care services allows them to do this.

    Self Check Activity \(\PageIndex{1}\)

    Patients with______________ may benefit from home health care. Select all that apply.

    • Terminal illness
    • Chronic illnesses
    • Cerebral palsy
    • HIV/AIDS
    • Birth defects
    • Kidney failure
    • Multiple sclerosis
    • Stroke
    • Swallowing difficulties
    • Physical disabilities
    • Cognitive disabilities
    • Dementia
    • Hearing impairments
    • Heart failure
    • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
    • Wounds
    • Asthma
    • Arthritis
    • Diabetes
    • Hypertension
    • Vision impairments
    • Cancer
    Answer

    If you selected all of the answer choices, 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, culture, ethnicity, gender, and type of disability or illness.

    This page titled 1.1: Introduction is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Erin O'Hara-Leslie, Amdra C. Wade, Kimberly B. McLain, SUNY Broome (OpenSUNY) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.