Home health care is the more common name for in home medical care. This is often a smart choice for people who have an elderly person or ailing family member in their life that needs constant medical care or constant assistive living. The care offered by home health care can vary according to the type of health care services that you make use of. Some services are extremely intensive and offer medical care around the clock. Others are excellent for just helping you is loved on with the daily tasks associated with living.

There are a vast many advantage and a few disadvantages to the use of home healthcare services. In many cases they are a perfect solution for those who wish to keep their family member in the comfort and security of the home environment but also and to make sure that they are receiving adequate care that they need on a daily basis. For the most part there are three main styles of home healthcare. The first two are professional based while the third, family member care may seem appealing at first, but in the end you will see why it is not a smart idea.

Skilled care is provided on a part time basis in most cases and refers to the usage of a licensed professional nurse or a registered nurse coming to the home a few days a week to perform needed medical treatments and evaluate and document the condition of the patient. Usually these services are available only under the order of a doctor but that varies and can sometimes be worked around in the case of private care. Sometimes (usually in eh case of private care) live in or semi-live in options are available for those who need around the clock care and observation.

Most of the time the cost of skilled care is covered in its base form by Medicare or private insurance. In the case of private care you will have to pay for it out of pocket. When payments from the government or insurance are used then the care is most often only limited to a part time basis. The purpose being to teach the family members how to perform the tasks that are needed to care for the loved one properly.

The second type of home healthcare is also the most common form in the United States. This is custodial care. With custodial care the patient is cared for during the day (and in some cases with a live in situation) and they receive assistance with basic living needs such as getting dressed or undressed, taken a bath, preparing meals or getting the shopping done. These services are provided by professionally trained living companions.

When the care is provided on a live in situation, it is often times privately funded or funded via a grant from some organization in the community. The cost is sometimes offset by the fact that room and board is provided to the caregiver. Veterans benefits can sometimes be used to pay for both live in as well as daily custodial care but Medicare and most insurance will only pay for daily care and then only 5 days a week.

For those who are interested in the option of family member care you should consider a few key factors as to why this is a lousy idea. First it is often times not in the realm of expertise for a family member to be able to effectively handle the needs of the person. You should also consider the fact that when a family member is burdened with this responsibility they will have a reduction in their available work time which means less income to the household, in addition to the extra mouth that you have to feed. They also have a greater chance of suffering from illness or depression due to the emotional and mental strain that they are put under.

No matter the type of home healthcare that you choose to use, make sure that the decisions are made for the right reasons. You should never look at these choices form the position of emotion or from the position of finance. You need to make choices based on what the best choices are for the family member in question. If they need medical care then you should not try to “get by” with just a custodial companion, if they are not seriously ill then do not waste the money skilled care just because your family member “deserves the best”.

Home healthcare is an immensely personal and highly controversial topic that you will have to face when you are dealing with an older member of the family or one who is not able to care for them as effectively any more due to injury or disease. Please make sure that you are choosing what is best for them and for your household.

Author Bio: Jeffrey Beck Lamb enjoys networking with healthcare professionals online. He also likes talking about landau scrubs and cherokee scrubs and also likes writing articles about various topics.

Category: Family Concerns
Keywords: Healthcare, Home Healthcare, healthcare service