Medical Care at Home

Even if their daily living skills have declined, you parents can remain in their home safely and happily with professional nonmedical care.  But what happens if one of them suffers a severe medical trauma, such as a stroke, a broken hip, or surgery that requires him to be fed intravenously afterward?   Under those circumstances, will your loved one have to go to a nursing home to recover?

Not necessarily. Over the past 20 years, life-enhancing and lifesaving medical devices have become far more portable and more adaptable to home use.  Moreover, professional medical care agencies can provide teams of nurses, therapists, and other medical aides, and even physicians to make house calls, set up and operate that machinery, and supervise patient's recoveries.

That's one of the important topics discussed in the new book Stages of Senior Care:  Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions.  This resource guide, written by Home Instead Senior Care founders Lori and Paul Hogan, is designed to help adult children make informed, confident plans and decisions.

Here are a few things to think about when helping plan care for your parent as discussed in Stages:

When At-Home Medical Care is Best

Almost any long-term medical problem can be handled at home, and often better than in an institution.

Does She Also Need Nonmedical Care?

An ailing senior may require both professional medical care and nonmedical care. Consider a patient with mild dementia who has fallen and broken a hip.  The nonmedical caregiver cannot take care of changing dressings, lifting him in and out of bed, and other major physical needs, all of which a medical caregiver can provide.  On the other hand, now more than ever the senior needs companionship and help with making meals, performing light housework, and such.  Those are services in which nonmedical agencies specialize but medical agencies do not necessarily provide.

Some Advice on Choosing a Medical Care Provider

Seek out a medical caregiver designated a "home health agency," advises James Summerfelt, chief executive officer of the Visiting Nurse Association.  "The term often indicates that the provider is Medicare-certified and has met minimum federal requirements for patient care and management." Such agencies are highly supervised and controlled. Medicare covers many of their expenses, and many long-term care insurance policies will pay for much of the rest.

According to the Visiting Nurse Association, a home health agency is likely to employ a range of professionals, including the following:

1. Physicians - Doctors visit patients in their homes to diagnose and treat them, as they do in hospitals and private offices. The physician prescribes and oversees the patient's care plan.
2. Registered nurses - Generally, an RN can administer injections and intravenous therapy, provide wound care, and offer education on disease treatment and prevention and patient assessments, but state regulations vary, RNs may also provide case management services.
3. Licensed practical nurse  - Whether your parent requires an RN or an LPN depends largely on the difficulty and intricacy of hi treatment.
4. Physical therapists - Through the use of exercise, massage and other methods, PTs work to restore the mobility and strength of patients who are limited or disabled by physical injuries.
5. Social workers - They evaluate the social and emotional factors affecting ill and disabled individuals and provide counseling. They also serve as case managers when patients - conditions are so complex that professionals need to assess medical and supportive needs and coordinate a variety of services.
6. Speech language pathologists - Work to develop and restore the speech of individuals and help retain patients in breathing, swallowing and muscle control.
7. Occupational therapists - OTs help seniors who have physical, developmental, social or emotional problems that prevent them from performing the general activities of daily living (ADLs). OTs instruct patients on using rehabilitation techniques and equipment to improve such daily functions as eating, bathing, dressing and basic household routines.
8. Home health aides - They assist patients with such daily activities as getting in and out of bed, walking, bathing, toileting and dressing.

For in-depth answers on how you can best prepare for our parent's care, purchase Stages of Senor Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions.  The book is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders and Indigo.  Get more information about senior-related services through your local Home Instead Senior Care franchise office.

Home Instead Senior Care
424 No. Lake Avenue, Suite #302 , Pasadena, CA 91101   (626)-486-0800