Home care is non-medical care that involves providing supervisory care, helping the person who receives care with their activities of daily living.

Home care services may include assistance with day-to-day activities such as cleaning and other chores and helping with daily activities, such as bathing, eating, and dressing. It may also include monitoring a person’s medication routine, assistance with cooking, and transportation.

You can receive almost any type of care in your home. If you are looking for home care for an elderly parent, inquire with your local and state offices of aging and social services about these services’ costs.

Your loved one with dementia or other debilitating health condition may also receive home health care.

Home health care involves various health care services that patients receive at their homes for an illness or injury. While home health care’s primary goal is to help the patient with a disease or injury, it also helps the aging person live independently as long as possible. Medicare covers the costs of home health care for eligible patients.

Medicare covers services that include therapy, intermittent skilled nursing care, and care provided by a home health aide to people who are entirely confined to their homes (homebound). These services involve medical care and help with medications and medical equipment.

If aging in place is essential to you or your elderly parent, daily living activities may still be a concern. Safety, getting around, hosing, and personal care may be challenging if you live alone. You should consider getting home care services if you struggle with daily living activities, such as personal care, household chores, meals, health care, and money management.

• Personal Care

If you need help with washing your hair, bathing, toileting, or dressing, you might hire a trained home care aide to assist you with these activities daily.

• Household Chores

People who cannot handle laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, and meal preparation on their own anymore often opt for home care services and have a caregiver help them with these activities each day.
However, if your loved one has dementia, he or she may not recognize objects or know how to handle them, or not understand how to do something so that they might need different levels of assistance with ADLs.

• Meals

You may have difficulties planning and preparing meals or shopping and storing groceries. This may be an issue if you live alone or have no one to help you. Home care services cover this aspect of daily living, helping you shop for groceries, and preparing nutritious meals every day.

• Health Care

Although home care is not the same as home health care (medical care in-home), home care aides help with medication management and doctor’s appointments. If you forget to take your medications, have just gotten out of the hospital, and still need nursing care for a short time, the hospital discharge planner can help you make arrangements for home health care.

• Getting Around

If you are having trouble walking or getting around in-home and in town, consider getting a walker or an electric chair. Medicare sometimes covers these aids. Also, if you need someone to do shopping or accompany you on a visit to your doctor, check out for volunteers and other resources in your community.

• Money Management

If you worry about paying bills late, forgetting to pay them, or struggling to understand health insurance forms, you may get help with these tasks. If you don’t have a trusted family member or a relative to lend a hand, you may hire a financial counselor or geriatric care manager to help.

You may want to contact your local Agency of Aging for referral, though, to avoid money scams.