November is In-Home Care & Hospice Month, and since in-home care is the name of my game as a Certified Senior Care Advisor, and sometimes our caregivers work in conjunction with hospice care providers, I want to share some basic information to increase awareness about the services Home Helpers and hospice deliver to make life and death easier for seniors in Clearwater.
Home Helpers® In-Home Care Services
Companion Care - Companionship is a vital element of our Cared-4℠ program. If you or a senior loved one likes movies and lunches out, or crafts and puzzles, I will match a caregiver with shared interests to keep you company and actively engaged.
Homemaker Services - Homemaker’s services help create a safe, clean, and comfortable living environment so your loved one can stay at home, living independently with a greater sense of confidence and security – and with greater peace of mind for you.
Personal Care – Personal care by a professional caregiver offers that needed support with hygiene and nutrition, so you or your aging or disabled loved one can stay at home where they’re happiest and most comfortable.
Nutritional Meal Planning and Preparation - Sometimes, the toughest part of staying healthy is finding time to get the right nutrition and preparing it. Our caregiver meal planning and prep services help you from the grocery store to the kitchen to make the whole process less of a chore. When you have the right fuel, your physical and mental well-being and your quality of life will be positively impacted.
Wake-up/Tuck-in Services - Our Cared-4℠ program includes wake-up and tuck-in services that can assist you or your loved one with morning and evening routines and tasks, which will begin and/or end each day with more joy and peace of mind for everyone.
Wellness calls - To help provide a sense of companionship or needed reminders, we have developed a wellness calls service. These calls can ensure you or your aging loved one is well and they can happen as often as necessary.
24-Hour Monitoring - Effective monitoring services and medical alert systems provide a safe, secure solution for maintaining independence for seniors and others requiring in-home care, and peace of mind for family and friends who love them.
Specialized Care Services - Many of our caregivers have experience helping clients with conditions like Parkinson’s, Down’s Syndrome, COPD, and heart disease. To ensure we provide the right specialized home care assistance services for you or your loved one, we provide specialized training for our caregivers and tailor our care plan accordingly.
Recuperative care - Clients recovering from a major surgery or injury can often use a little assistance as they recuperate at home. Our caregivers can assist with recovery efforts as well as provide comfort and assistance for clients recuperating from surgeries, injuries, or rehabilitation.
Support for Stroke Recovery - Strokes are the leading cause of disabilities in the United States making home care invaluable to someone who is recovering from a stroke. We are here to support and help through this difficult time with comprehensive stroke recovery care that will meet any unique needs and requirements.
Respite Care - Family and private caregivers can easily get burned out when spending the majority of their time caring for their loved one. Respite care services provide the break family or private caregivers need to refresh and recharge. Consider it a planned break from caregiving routines that still allows your loved one to be properly cared for at home, where they truly belong.
Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care – Caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease can present many challenges. Our professional caregivers can ease the burden with customized in-home care services that ensure a higher quality of life and more peace of mind for you, your loved one, and your entire family. Home Helpers® dementia caregivers receive specialized training and are highly experienced in dementia care, and many are certified in Alzheimer’s care through our partnership with the National Certification Board for Alzheimer Care (NCBAC).
Hospice Care Services
Hospice Care is ordered for people who are in the later stages of an incurable or critical illness, like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia, and nearing the end of their life, typically with a life expectancy of 6 months or less. Hospice nurses treat symptoms and negative effects of the illness to keep their patients as comfortable as possible.
According to the Hospice Foundation, most hospices follow Medicare requirements to provide the following services, as necessary, to manage the primary illness for which someone receives hospice care:
- Time and services of the care team, including visits to the patient’s location by the hospice physician, nurse, medical social worker, home health aide, and chaplain/spiritual adviser
- Medication for symptom control, including pain relief
- Medical equipment like a hospital bed, wheelchairs or walkers, and medical supplies such as oxygen, bandages, and catheters
- Physical and occupational therapy*
- Speech-language pathology services*
- Dietary counseling*
- Any other Medicare-covered services needed to manage pain and other symptoms related to the terminal illness, as recommended by the hospice team
- Short-term inpatient care (e.g. when adequate pain and symptom management cannot be achieved in the home setting)
- Short-term respite care for family caregivers (e.g. temporary relief from caregiving to avoid or address “caregiver burnout”)
- Grief and loss counseling for the patient and loved ones, who may experience anticipatory grief. Grief counseling is provided to family members for up to 13 months after a death.
*Access to these services is determined on a case-by-case basis depending on assessment of hospice team, goals of care as established by the hospice team, and disease progression and symptom burden.
This list of hospice services is meant to serve as a guideline of what to expect should the time come you or a loved one need their compassionate care near the end of life.
During In-Home Care & Hospice Month and over the upcoming holidays, please pay particular attention to your senior loved ones who live alone and may be challenged by activities of daily living. If they are struggling or they appear lonely and isolated, I am happy to offer a FREE Consultation to determine how Home Helpers® can improve their quality of life and make their life easier and more enjoyable going forward!
We, at Home Helpers® Clearwater, are honored to have received the Home Care Pulse – Best of Home Care® Provider of Choice Award 2016-2022 and the Best of Home Care® Employer of Choice Award 2022. We proudly serve male and female seniors in Clearwater, Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Holiday, New Port Richey, Trinity, Port Richey, Hudson, and surrounding areas. Home Helpers®…we are Making Life Easier℠ 727.942.2539
Source:
Hospice Foundation
