If you or a family member or friend are recuperating from an illness, getting less independent with age or have a disability or chronic illness that requires care, you may be able to receive that care and assistance in your home rather than at a hospital, nursing home or rehabilitation facility.
Many people in need begin by being cared for at home by family members, who often become overwhelmed and need more professional support.
“Because of the high costs and huge demands of in-home care, family members tend to become our de facto caregivers, but the pressure often becomes too all-consuming for the family and outside help needs to be brought in to supplement family care and enable your loved ones to remain in their homes,” says Barry Jacobs, a clinical psychologist and family therapist and co-author of the “AARP Caregiver Answer Book.”
[READ: Long-Term Care Facilities: Types and Costs]
Home Health Care vs. Home Care: Key Differences
Both home health care and home care are types of in-home care that provide assistance to patients to allow them to remain independent. However, they have their differences, including the nature of the care, who provides it and how it’s funded.
Home health care
Home health care is care prescribed by a doctor after an illness, injury, surgery or to treat a chronic condition and is administered in one’s home by skilled medical professionals, including:
— Licensed nurses
— Certified nursing assistants
— Physical or occupational therapists
— Speech therapists
— Medical social workers
— Health care aides
Home care
Home care is nonmedical, nonskilled help that enables your family member to stay safely at home and maintain a decent quality of life. It provides help with activities of daily living, such as personal care, homemaking tasks and tasks to maintain personal hygiene.
Home care workers include the following:
— Personal care aides
— Home care aides
— Family members
[READ: How to Set Up Home Health Care After a Hospital Stay]
How to Pay for Home Care Services
Home health care
To be eligible for home health care, you will need a doctor’s order for skilled medical services. Costs and coverage depend on your insurance and the level of care needed. Some forms of coverage include the following:
Home care
To pay for home care, you’ll need to consider the following options:
[Read: Senior Home Care: Services, Costs and Tips for Aging in Place]
How to Decide Between Home Health Care and Home Care
You may know that you or your family member wants to remain at home. If this is the case, you’ll need to know what kind of care is needed. Some of this is in your control, but some is not.
Here are some of the factors you need to consider:
When Home Health and Home Care Services Are Combined
There are various situations when both home health care and home care services are needed to help individuals recover faster and maintain their independence.
For example, if you’re recovering at home after a surgical procedure instead of at a rehabilitation facility or a nursing facility, you may have a visiting nurse see you a couple of times a week to perform services, such as monitoring your vital signs or changing dressing on wounds. You may also need physical therapy sessions to get you walking again or to help you regain your strength.
To complement those medical services, you may need someone to help you bathe, to do household chores and to cook your meals.
If you or a family member is aging at home and has fallen, recovering in the home with a combination of home health care and home care can make it possible to remain in the home to recover. A medical professional in such a case would visit periodically to check on your progress, and home care workers would work to supplement that medical care and make it possible for you to continue to live in your own home.
Bottom Line
With the aging of the baby boomers who generally want to continue to age in their homes, there’s been a huge demand for both home health care and home care workers.
Sometimes, as we age, it becomes difficult to determine whether home health care or home care services are needed, and sometimes both are needed at the same time. You’ll need to determine what your options are and the level of care required, and compare the services of home care and home health care. Then you’ll need to review your finances and insurance coverage to determine what you can realistically expect to afford.
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Home Health Care vs. Home Care: What?s the Difference? originally appeared on usnews.com