Personal care services (PCS) are offered to ill, sick, disabled or aged persons to help them stay in their own homes and communities instead of nursing homes. In simple words, personal care and services aim to help seniors and other individuals who need help to perform daily activities in their life. The term “personal care” has a broader meaning and can mean different as per different contexts. For instance, in case of seniors or elderly persons, care is type of assistance given to them to help them make physical movements.
Personal Care Service – Types of services we offer
Comfort Kare is a certified and licensed Home Health Agency in Virginia. We providing a range of high-quality and comprehensive services in the comfort of our patient’s home.
- Skilled Home Health: This includes physical, occupational & speech therapy, wound help, catheter help, medication administration, and other
- PCS: This includes medication reminders, patient transfer help, daily monitoring & reporting, incontinence assistance, ambulation, activity & transfer assistance, food preparation & feeding, errand services, light housekeeping & organizing, and retrieval of mail & packages.
- Companionship: Sitter Services, taking patients for walk, safety check-in & monitoring, accompany to medical appointments, etc.
- ABA Therapy: provided by Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) and Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT, One on one ABA sessions provided in the client’s home, initial and ongoing assessments, etc.
As per the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). 89% of people having age above 50 prefer to remain in their home.
These are different from homemaker services which focus to help elderly persons remain at their homes, companion help which is designed to maintain the emotional and mental health of seniors, and medical help which directly deals with medical procedures and medicines.
In-home care services are a large part of nursing homes and activities that allow a person to spend time in their own home. Some of the daily activities that need bathing, dressing, mobility, using the toilet, getting into the bed, eating, grooming, and walking.
There are three main groups of assistants:
Family helpers: The family members like son, daughter or spouse provide helping hand on their own, depending on the level of love and help needed.
Private Providers: There are private assistants or home health helpers who are not associated with any health agency.
Personal Agencies: These employ a number of licensed and trained personal assistants.
Eligibility
To qualify for personal care services, a person must have a medical problem, disability or cognitive impairment.
This program can be provided by home health agencies that recommend an appropriate amount, frequency and duration of services. This program can assist an eligible member to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) in his home, place of employment or community.
To be eligible, an applicant must have Medicaid eligibility which varies from state to state.
Scope of Tasks
Available for any daily activities you may need assistance with like
- Bathing, brushing teeth, and showering
- Applying lotions and creams
- Getting into the bed
- Getting ready
- Wearing clothes
- Oral hygiene activities
- Applying make-up
- Combing and shaving
- Helping you to the toilet
- Cleaning intimate areas and changing continence pads
- Helps in mobility
- Taking note of your medicines
- Preparing meals
- Routine skin health
- Cutting nails
- Grooming
- Cleaning and grocery shopping
These all at home senior care services are in the comfort of your own home.
Apart from above, seniors who
- need assistance to safely moving throughout their home
- have impaired motor
- can no longer drive and need help to visit the medical store, friends’ houses, and more
- are alone and want the companionship
- having any symptoms of memory impairment
A specialist works as per your regular routines, and ensures that support is tailored to your specific requirements. Moreover, you can also customize and outline your likes and dislikes, the hygiene or beauty products– you feel most comfortable with.
How does one Obtain Personal Care and Services?
One can avail of the personal care and services by using any of the funding sources like private pay, Long-term insurance, health insurance, veterans’ benefits, worker’s compensation, and Medicaid. These service does not need to be prescribed by a doctor. It can be provided on an ongoing basis on a schedule that meets a person’s needs, up to 24/7.
Moreover, one must be eligible for Community Medicaid.
The persons having age below 65 can apply for Medicaid on the NYS of Health Exchange, and those who are above 65 and have Medicare can apply through their local Medicaid office. Also, the person having Medicaid can access Personal Care services depending on his or her age, medical condition, and some other factors.
For instance, Medicaid recipients having age over 18 don’t have mainstream Medicaid managed plan can enroll in a Managed Long Term plan, to avail In-home elder care service.
How Much Cost? How are Hours Determined?
It’s the most frequently asked question.
Well this depends on various factors like
- City, country, or state
- Severity of case
- Person’s age
- Medical history
- Type of help required
- Patient’s needs
However, on average hiring a certified and insured helper in the US for an hour costs around $38.
Standards for 24-Hour Care: There are 2 types of standard 24-hour available:
- Live-in 24-hour: In this program, one helper is hired daily for a 24-hour period or depending on the location can be booked for a maximum of 4 to 5 days per week. For the other days, a different person is hired. During the 24 hours, a 4 hour relaxation is given to the person and you can decide. if you want coverage for those 4hours or not. The biggest advantage of this program is consistency and a golden chance is given to clients to build relationships.
- Split-shift or “Continuous services”: It includes continuous support, by more than one aide for more than 16 hours in a calendar day. Due to the poor health conditions, patients needs help to perform daily activities like toileting, walking, moving, bathing, etc. In such case, split-shift or continuous support or help is better.
- Standards for Assessing Need for Care, including 24-hour help: There are particular standards to determine the need to have above 24-hour. However, they are specific rules people who need less than 24-hour assistance. Local Medicaid schemes as well as MLTC plans that approve PCS are allowed to use “task-based help” to determine needs, with mandatory restrictions.
- Safety Monitoring: This need not to be approved as a “stand alone” task if no other health care help is required.
The appropriate monitoring of the patient includes providing him or her assistance for tasks such as moving, toileting, or walking safely.
“Mayer-Three” -Where there are 24-Hour Needs, Plan or district may not use Task-Based.
Assessment: Statewide, no local district may use task-based help if the patient needs help for 24-hour, even if some of that assistance is provided by family or other informal helpers.
Who Can be Hired as a Personal Care Aide?
A lot of tasks are performed by personal care aides such as taking patients for walk, talking with them, helping them to perform daily activities like brushing teeth, bathing, grooming, or going to the bathroom, playing games and so much more.
However, not everyone can become health care aide. Every state or country has different regulations and policies to allow certain person to become the assistant.
You can hire a helper from licensed and certified home care services agency that has a contract with the MLTC plan.
Your spouse, parent, son, son-in-law, daughter or daughter-in-law may not be your aide.
However other relative who is not living in the patient’s home or is living in the patient’s home as the amount of help required by the patient makes his availability necessary can be his aide.
Moreover, to become an aide, no formal education is needed. However, home health agencies may hire person or appoint a person as an aide if he or she has a high school diploma or the equivalent.
But you are expected to have qualities like integrity, compassion, interpersonal skills, and physical stamina.
The newcomers are trained on-the-job by certified nurses, employers, or another experienced personal care aide. Also, some cities ask for relevant certificates from a community college or a vocational school.
Right At Home Senior Care services
For many families, right at home senior care is the best way to keep their loved ones to stay in the facilities and comfort of their own home.
Some of the benefits are:
Comfort:
The main perk of right at home senior care services is that the elderly citizens can stay in the comfort of place of their own choice or at home. This will allow them to access their stuff including bed, use their own home, and perform their daily activities. Moreover, being in familiar area can help them to overcome any progressive medical conditions like dementia.
Personalized help:
Right at home senior care gives the elderly people the chance to customize personalized help as per their needs and requirements.
Speedy recovery:
Many studies show that patients recover from any illness or sickness in the comfort of their own home.
One to one attention
The primary focus of the helper is to provide a high of attention and love. So your loved one is feeling happy and safe.
Peace of mind
Whether you want to enjoy a vacation or want to spend private time, by hiring a helper you need not to worry about your loved one being alone and getting injured while performing any activity.
Stay At home senior care services option in Virginia
At Comfort Kare, our licensed health professionals provide a range affordable and high-quality elder care services in Virginia:
Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapy, Medication Administration, medication Reminders, PCS, patient Transfer Assistance, daily Monitoring & Reporting, Incontinence Assistance, meal Preparation & Feeding, and a lot more other services.
Why choose Comfort Kare for: Right at home senior care
- Fully certified and licensed
- Provide custom services
- Cost-effective and quality health support
- Experienced and professional staff
- Comprehensive care at home
- Individualized treatments plan
- Homely environment
- Best home support center in Virginia
To book any home health in Northern Virginia at Comfort Kare, dial (703) 986-3232.