Home Nursing: Home Health Aides

Finding the right person to help you care for an aging parent doesn’t have to be difficult. There are a number of easy to use services to help you choose a qualified caregiver in your area.

You can find a live-in nurse, home attendant, home heath aide or other qualified geriatric service providers here: “”Find Local Senior Caregivers””

Many families struggle to care for their aging and ailing loved ones. Dementia and Alzheimer’s can be especially difficult to manage on your own, especially when you’re busy trying to work a job and raise children.

Home health aides and personal and home care aides help elderly people who are disabled, chronically ill, or cognitively impaired and older adults, who require help with daily chores, continue living with more independence. Finding a good home aide for your aging loved one can postpone or eliminate the emotional and financial strain of moving into old age homes, (better known as long-term health facilities).  If your loved one is physically or mentally disabled and requires more care than you can provide a home health aide can provide assistance part-time or full-time.

The aide usually performs daily tasks like laundry, making beds, food shopping and meal preparation.  When required the aide will help the patient bathe, groom and dress for the day. Many home aides will escort clients to medical appointment and other short trips.

A good home health aide is a valuable part of the care team and provides emotional support to the elderly client. In addition to the everyday tasks and chores, the right home aide acts as a companion.  Family members rely on the aide to keep their loved ones healthy and happy.

Finding The Right Help For Your Aging Parents

Search for local home helpers here: “”Find Local Senior Caregivers””

Your aide’s daily routine will vary base on their current assignments. Some may be attending full-time to a single patient while others may have to visit half a dozen clients in a single day. Many families struggle to provide care to their parents and grandparents while supporting their own young ones. Very often an aide is hired to fill in the gaps when family members are working or fulfilling other obligations.

What’s the difference between home health aides and personal and home care aides?

Both perform many similar tasks but a home health aide has a greater amount of training and / or certification.

Home health aides are often employed by certified home health agencies or hospice care agencies that are regulated by the government. Because of this home health aide typically works under the supervision of a medical professional.  They work closely with therapists, nurses and other medical professionals.

A trained and qualified aide can assist with basic medical issues like monitoring blood pressure, temperature and other vitals. Simple health-related procedures like changing bandages and colostomy bags may be part of their responsibilities.

Home health aides may provide some basic health-related services, such as checking patients’ pulse rate, temperature, and respiration rate. They usually can help administer injections and administrate other medical procedures. Some may also help clients with complicated medical equipment like ventilators.

Personal and home care aides(also known as caregivers, companions, homemakers and personal attendants) typically work independently and usually have fewer medical credentials than a home health aide.  They are in the home to perform daily chores and escort patients to doctor’s appointments. The elder companion will help make sure the client is taking prescribe meds and eating well.

Many families will hire an aide directly. This requires that the family members provide instruction, supervision and check the quality of care.

Very often the terms home health care home care” and “in-home care” are used to describe the same service. Homecare will usually describe non-medical care and home healthcare will refer to someone with medical certification.

Certified Nurse’s Aides (CNA)

Home Health Aides (HHA)

Previous Post

Elder Safety: Preventing Falls

Next Post

How to Make Your Home Safe for Aging Parents

Comments are closed.
%d bloggers like this: