A serious injury or illness can disrupt a person’s life, making even the simplest daily tasks difficult. Providing round-the-clock care for someone who is recovering is a challenge for friends and family. While you might be able to do it on your own, hiring a professional caregiver has advantages. If you live in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, or anywhere in New York City, read on to find out how home health care services can benefit your loved one.
What Are Home Health Care Services?
Home health services describe a form of care that takes place inside the patient’s home instead of a hospital or a live-in nursing facility. A home health services provider is a skilled licensed medical practitioner who works with your doctor to develop a specialized treatment plan for a patient’s condition and stays in the home part-time or full-time during their recovery.
What Are the Advantages of Home Health Services?
In many cases, home health services offer better outcomes than a hospital or nursing facility. Here are a few of the benefits:
More Affordable than Alternative Modes of Care
Hospitals and nursing centers have high overhead from maintaining a physical facility and employing full-time staff. Home care is more affordable because the patient pays only one practitioner to provide care where they live.
Helps Avoid Future Hospitalizations
Having a professional in the home can prevent trips to the hospital that might result from missed medications, falls, or failure to follow the doctor’s prescribed treatment plan. This will ensure progress toward recovery and save the patient money on costly hospital bills.
Faster Recovery
Some studies show that elderly patients recover faster in the home compared to a hospital. A UCLA study looking at more than 100,000 patients found that those who recovered at home experienced better outcomes at lower costs relative to those who convalesced in hospitals.
Comfort and Independence
Home health services allow patients to recover in the comfort of their own homes while enjoying their normal hobbies and the company of their friends and family. Hospitals and nursing facilities limit visitors and what the patient can do in their spare time. Recovering at home can improve a patient’s mood, leading to better recovery outcomes.
Reduced Strain on Caregivers
It can be overwhelming for friends and family to shoulder the burden of helping their loved one recover alone while also working full-time and having a social life. An in-home medical professional can take some pressure off while ensuring that the patient’s recovery stays on track.
How Can Home Health Care Help a Loved One Recover?
Home health encompasses a broad range of services that can facilitate a patient’s recovery. Here are a few:
Nursing and Medical Care
A home health aide can provide critical basic medical care that is crucial to a patient’s recovery. This can include tasks like taking vital signs such as heart rate, temperature, and blood pressure daily. An aide can reposition bedridden patients, change bandages, monitor symptoms, and do other things to keep the patient on track to recovery.
Assistance with Essential Daily Tasks and Chores
When a person is severely injured or sick, they may struggle to perform basic activities, such as moving around, grooming themselves, eating, or going to the bathroom. In-home personal assistants will help the patients do everything they need to do while ensuring that they maintain their dignity and sense of independence. Some in-home care specialists can help the patient with light chores, such as vacuuming, sweeping, and doing the dishes.
Administering Medication Appropriately
An illness or injury may require the patient to take multiple medications on varying schedules, and it might prove difficult to keep track of all of them. Taking medication as prescribed is essential to speeding up recovery, managing pain, and mitigating symptoms. A medical professional can ensure the correct dosage. They can also monitor the patient for side effects and coordinate with their doctor about any necessary adjustments.
Diet and Nutrition Support
A proper diet is vital to recovery. Any deficiency in essential nutrients can hinder the immune system, slow the healing of wounds, or otherwise affect recovery. A home health aide can help patients plan their weekly menus and assist in meal preparation. They can also provide supplements and monitor fluid intake.
Emotional Support
Recovery requires more than medical attention, nutrition, and help around the house. An injury or illness can be an isolating and demoralizing experience for the patient, leading to anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental illness. A home health worker can provide companionship and emotional support to the patient to help them feel like they are not alone.
What Kinds of Conditions Are Suitable for Home Health Care Treatment?
Heart Failure
Following a cardiac arrest, a home health care worker can reduce strain on the patient, help them take their appropriate heart medications, manage their diet, and monitor them for early warning signs of future incidents.
COPD
Patients with COPD have problems breathing and may have difficulty doing everyday tasks. Malnutrition and muscle fatigue are common problems, and a home health worker can help the patient maintain their diet and assist them with daily activities. An in-home aide can also provide physical therapy and help with exercise to improve strength and stamina.
Knee and Hip Surgery
After surgery on a knee or hip, patients will experience reduced mobility for a time, and, as a result, they will be unable to do chores or other tasks normally. A home health aid can assist with daily activities, pain medications, and regular physical therapy during recovery to help the patient regain strength and flexibility.
Dementia and Confusion
Elders experiencing Alzheimer’s or other forms of age-related cognitive decline can benefit from in-home help to slow the progression of the condition, provide physical therapy, handle associated behavioral issues, and ensure the patient is properly medicated.
Cancer
Various kinds of cancer can diminish a person’s mobility or capacity to function normally. Cancer patients may also experience complications like secondary infections and side effects of treatment, such as nausea and fatigue. A home health aide can help the patient navigate these issues.
Dizziness and Balance Disorders
Falls are a top cause of injury for elders. An in-home specialist can help with fall prevention by identifying problem areas in the home that create a risk of falling and assisting the patient with bathing or other daily tasks that could lead to slips. They can also work with the patient to improve their balance and develop strategies to avoid falling.
Stroke
A stroke can leave one or more parts of the body paralyzed. Recovering function may require physical, speech, and occupational therapy, and the patient often needs assistance with normal tasks, such as eating, bathing, and grooming. In-home health services can provide for all the patient’s medical and therapeutic needs while also taking care of these essential daily activities.
If you’re seeking in-home care in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, or anywhere in the Greater New York area, contact Parent Care to learn about our services, pricing, and more.
