The need to switch to home care can feel a little scary and disruptive to residents of Flintridge and elsewhere, especially for someone who has just found they’re going to need 24-hour care.

That’s OK – many people think they’re doing fine at home by themselves until they have a medical issue, trauma, or increasing mental challenges that require them to change their living situation.

The team at Accredited Home Care is always happy to meet with individuals and families who are trying to make these tough decisions.

Sometimes these choices must be made fairly quickly due to changing medical conditions, so families don’t always have the opportunity to fully evaluate different programs, perform a large amount of due diligence or even ask a lot of questions.

Once the main topics settled, like being assured that proper care will be provided, possible costs, people may still feel overwhelmed.

Some of the items that can be considered for these conversations might feel minor but still are worth asking for more details about. But the good news is that home care personnel are also still eager to answer additional (or the same) questions anytime or go over any items that someone may need more details about.

1. Is the care plan permanent? The answer is no. Some people may need the assistance of home health care on a limited basis as they recover from a specific injury or build a new skill. Others may need it longer for more chronic conditions. Each client starts with a care plan, but these can be modified or improved as needed until the people involved are more familiar and comfortable.
2. Can family help? The answer, again, is yes, even if they haven’t had a lot of caregiving experience and education like a registered nurse. Home health care pros may be able to share some suggestions to teach family basic care, but then can be available for more advanced needs or on a different day.
3. What if things get worse? Though home care/aging place is a preferred option for many, sometimes conditions may deteriorate over time or they have experienced recent trauma that could require a change. This could include a fall that makes it difficult to move around by themselves. Sometimes this can require moving to a care facility for a short period of time or an unknown amount of time. We can provide information about these types of resources.
4. What safety precautions do you take? This starts with the recent efforts to try and prevent COVID-19, but can include other safety strategies, such as sanitation and hygiene. These can include individual efforts as well as company best practices. By now everyone should be wearing masks as a general precaution (including clients!) Because we’ve been offering home health care for more than 20 years in California, we’re happy to share our efforts.
5. What services are available? These may have been quickly discussed in a fast overview at the beginning of the research process, but it never hurts to ask the question again once someone is more comfortable and paying better attention. This could also remind people of something they may have forgotten to ask about the first time around or an interesting service that could be followed up.

Learn more in November

This is an excellent time to be learning more about home health care.

November is National Home Care and Hospice Month, an opportunity to learn about the value of home health care in everyone’s community. It’s also time for home health care providers in an area to present who they are and what they do to the people around them.

This effort includes educational campaigns and other explanations of different types of arrangements that can be offered for different individuals and families, depending on their care needs, family situation and other factors.

It also includes a salute to all the skilled professionals who team up to help with every client. This can include basic and advanced nursing services, massage therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. Aides can have a role, helping with everything from mobility and transportation to basic housekeeping.

Your physician/primary provider can play a part as well since they should be an important resource in your care plan. Any friends or loved ones who have been offering caregiver duties also need recognition.

If someone needs to receive hospice services, then there are people with training in dealing with this challenging part of someone’s life, including nurses and social workers.

All of these people need more kudos than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many standards of sanitation and hygiene have had to change, but patient care remains vital.

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice celebrates Home Care and Hospice throughout November but has declared the middle of the month to be Home Care Aide Week. Like the surrounding month, it encourages people to thank and appreciate those in this field.