What To Consider When Selecting A Home Care Professional

Coming to the realization that an elderly and/or disabled family member needs assistance from a home care professional can be an emotional experience. Home care is often the best option - providing your loved ones with the assistance they require while allowing them to remain independent and in familiar and comfortable surroundings. Given the growing number of home care providers, the complexities of your loved one's medical needs and the variety of specialty services offered - the process of selecting a home care provider can be a daunting one.



"At Visiting Nurse Regional Health Care System (VNR), we understand that the decision to entrust the health and well-being of a loved one to a non-family member can be extremely difficult for a host of reasons," said Maxine Hochhauser, CEO of VNR. "We urge all those seeking quality home care assistance to ask the appropriate questions and take the time to select a reputable and trustworthy care giver to provide the patient with first-class care, and the family with peace of mind."



Visiting Nurse Regional Health Care System, one of the leading home care providers in the New York metropolitan area, offers the following suggestions and selection criteria on how to select a home care professional:



What type of home care professional do I need, and where do I find them?


The type of home care assistance needed varies from patient to patient. Selection criteria should depend on the tasks that the family would prefer to personally handle for your loved one and those that you feel are best suited for a professional.



Once the level of care needed has been determined, the next step is locating a home care provider with the desired qualifications.



Aides have different levels of training, but most fall into the three categories:


-- Housekeeper: Hired to assist with cleaning, shopping, cooking, laundry and can be an escort outside the home. Housekeeping aides may often be found through local social or religious agencies.


-- Personal Care Aides: Trained to provide assistance in bathing and all activities of daily living including some household chores. Personal care aides and certified aides can be hired through agencies.


-- Certified Home Health Aides: Trained to assist with skilled and higher level care needed by bed bound, severely physically or mentally ill patients. A list of local home health care may be available at senior service centers and organizations, illness related societies, a local hospital or at the office of a primary care physician.



Questions to ask when contacting agencies about a home care professional:


-- What is the level of training of the professional caregiver?

-- Is the professional caregiver licensed?

-- Does the agency accept private insurance?

-- Is supervision from the agency provided?

-- Verify the cost of the services and additional fees. Agencies can sometimes charge for transportation and food costs for the aide.



About Visiting Nurse Regional Health Care System (VNR)

The Visiting Nurse Regional Health Care System is comprised of The Visiting Nurse Association of Brooklyn, (VNAB) which was established in 1888 and Empire State Home Care Services. VNAB is the oldest certified home health agency in New York City and the fourth oldest in the United States. To learn more about what the VNR offers and how we can help you, please visit us at vnrhcs