When one is blind-sided by a sudden, possibly life-threatening event such as a heart attack, stroke or serious accident, questions immediately arise about the impact it will have on his or her livelihood. “How or when will I return to work?” is a common question.
Returning to work following serious illness or injury is hardly an overnight process. To help people prepare to reenter their normal, daily lives and the workplace, home health care offers a span of activities that helps to bridge patient care and treatment toward a healthy return to routine activities.
Home health is an organized group of professionals helping patients achieve their individual goals by addressing physical, emotional and psychosocial needs. Their goal is to assist patients in getting back to normal routines as quickly as possible.
These concerns became real for a recent stroke patient in his early 50’s. He had paralysis on his right side and was unable to walk and had little arm strength. Upon being released from the hospital, home health became involved with his rehabilitation. After two months of care at home, he had regained his ability to walk and climb stairs, arm strength and returned fully functional to his job.
What home health can provide
The various tasks may run from the most basic of needs to specialized procedures with the latest technology. Home health nurses, with their routine visits, provide ongoing assessments to evaluate healthcare issues, teach patients about their medications, and promote self-management of their illness and health. Skilled nursing is provided by a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN).
Physical therapists provide strengthening, therapeutic exercises, physical endurance, gait training, balance activities and home safety assessments to help restore and improve patients’ mobility, balance, range-of-motion and strength.
Occupational therapists provide training for activities of daily living such as dressing, grooming, eating and rebuilding strength to assist the patient in restoring functional independence and self-care.
Speech-language pathologists provide cognitive retraining, evaluate swallowing disorders, assist with restoring communication, and evaluate and treat speech and language disorders.
Medical social workers provide home assessments to identify social, emotional and financial concerns of the patient and family. Their services include community resource referrals, education, assessment and referrals for financial assistance, counseling for long-range planning, advance directives, and assessment of social and emotional factors that may affect the patient’s treatment.
Home health aides provide assistance with bathing, grooming, personal hygiene, toileting and other activities of daily living.
Wound care nurses with special training, assist patients with ostomies and other skin and wound problems. Patients and families receive extensive training in order to continue this care themselves.
Home infusion and enteral nurses provide care to patients who need intravenous fluids, antibiotics, tube feedings and instruction to caregivers. (A registered nurse is always available for urgent situations and to answer any questions the patient/family member might have.)
TeleHealth/Telemonitoring uses technology to collect vital signs and monitor health status from the comfort of home. Each day the telemonitor unit records the patient’s vital signs and transmits the data via telephone to the agency where it is reviewed by a telemonitoring nurse. This information allows detection of changes and health concerns before they become serious issues which could require emergency care or hospitalization.
To qualify for services, a patient must:
- Be under the care of a doctor of medicine, osteopathy or podiatry
- Need a skilled level of nursing or therapy care on a short-term, intermittent basis
- Have a need for home health as directed by a physician
- Be homebound, meaning leaving your home is not recommended because of your condition; your condition keeps you from leaving home without help (e.g. wheelchair, walker, special transportation or help from another person); leaving home takes a considerable, taxing effort
- Be qualified for home health benefits under Medicare, Medicaid, workers’ compensation or a private health insurance
- Have a home environment that supports home health services
What does it cost? Workers’ compensation, Medicare, Medicaid, most private insurance and HMO’s cover the cost of home health care. If you believe that you or a loved one may need home health services, check with your physician. ν