TYPES OF HOME CARE
• What is the difference between Personal Care Services and In-Home Skilled Nursing Services?
• How can you get help if illness, disability, or an accident affects you or a loved one?
• Is all home care alike?
CAHC has two separate accreditation programs for the following types of services:
• Personal Care
• In-Home Skilled Nursing
Click Here To Find A CAHC Accredited Agency in Your Area
What is the difference between Personal Care Services and In-Home Skilled Nursing Services?
Personal Care Services
Many of the services provided by certified homemaker-home health aides center around activities which many people take for granted until illness, age or an accident make performing them impossible.
These services include activities such as:
- Personal care, bathing, and hygiene
- Grocery shopping, meal planning, preparation, and feeding
- Toileting and elimination
- Transfers and ambulation
- Assistance with therapeutic or exercise regimes
- Laundry and changing bed linens
- Light housekeeping
- Respite care
A certified homemaker-home health aide can be the key which enables the patient to stay home and receive care in comfortable and familiar surroundings.
In-Home Skilled Nursing Services
Skilled nursing services are only provided by registered professional nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs). This means that the patient's level of need requires the knowledge and expertise of a licensed nurse, not an aide or other paraprofessional helper. Also, nursing care is only carried out under specific doctor's orders for that care.
The following are examples of skilled nursing services:
- Wound care
- Diabetic teaching
- Injections
- Bladder catheterization
- Tube feedings
- IV infusions
- Ventilator care
How can you get help if illness, disability, or an accident affects you or a loved one?
In many cases, home health care is a viable alternative to stay in facilities such as hospitals or nursing homes. It may enable you to achieve and maintain an optimum level of health, activity, dignity, and independence in the privacy of your own home.
You may need assistance for only a short period of time, or you may have a chronic condition requiring long-term care. You may require the assistance of an aide for personal care and activities for daily living or you may need nursing care.
Is all home care alike?
The quality of services can differ dramatically from one agency to another. There are over 900 licensed and many more unlicensed home health care providers offering services in New Jersey. To protect yourself, it is important that you select a home care agency carefully.
Don't just answer an unknown person's advertisement in a newspaper or call someone you have heard about. Here are some reasons why this is not a good idea:
- The person may not be covered by insurance such as Worker's Compensation insurance.
- There may have been little or no screening of the person, such as references, health, criminal background check, certification, or licensure.
In New Jersey, the best way to be sure that the services provided by a home care agency meet standards of excellence is to use an agency that has been accredited by CAHC.
CAHC has been recognized by the state of New Jersey as an accrediting body since 1986 for personal care services and since 1995 for in-home skilled nursing services. Accreditation is mandatory if an agency wishes to participate in the New Jersey Medicaid Program.
CAHC accredits more New Jersey participating Medicaid home care agencies
than any other accrediting organization.
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