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A New Approach to Home Health Care
Dear friend,
What is Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC)?"HBPC programs provide appropriate care (primary, urgent, or palliative) to high-risk, medically vulnerable patients, often suffering multiple chronic conditions, when and where they need it. This patient-centric, continuous care model delivers clinical, economic, and human benefits such as:
* facilitating timely interventions when chronic conditions worsen and preempting avoidable emergency department visits and hospitalizations
* alleviating social stressors that contribute to poor health
* comforting patients by giving them loving care and letting them know they’re not alone."
Some states, recognizing that home health care is far less expensive than nursing home care, are starting to supplement family caregivers: States take the lead on addressing family caregiver needs. "As baby boomers grow into old age, there is a growing demand for caregivers — both paid and unpaid. While legislators have largely overlooked the looming shortage, some states are stepping into the void with innovative solutions.
"In Hawaii, family caregivers who work outside the home can get up to $70 per day from the state to apply toward adult day services. Washington has a tool to assess the needs of family caregivers and refer them to the most useful resources, and in Minnesota, the 'Live Well at Home' program gives grants to local organizations to test ways to support older adults and caregivers."
Check out AARP's Family Caregiving How-To Video Series: "Special Diets", "Managing Incontinence", "Wound Care", "Mobility", and "Managing Medications" with lots of instructional materials; also get their 63-page PDF Home Alone Revisited - Family Caregivers Providing Complex Care. And don't forget Medicare's "Home Health Care" and the more than 5,000 independently-run local "Meals on Wheels" programs – these can go a long way toward keeping you at home – that is, if your home is suitable for this when you need it to be.
"20 million family caregivers say they perform medical/nursing tasks. These include handling prescriptions, helping someone climb the stairs with a cane, and caring for and cleaning wounds. Family caregivers often do these tasks with no training or help from health care professionals." This is why we offer our online Social Ministries of the Church program.
An example of Supporting older adults and their caregivers in the community is Wellmed Charitable Foundation's activity centers for seniors in Texas and Florida. This will give you an idea of what might be available in your state too! Also see their page on Caregiver Support for emergency call-in help, caregiver coaching, caregiver teleconferences, a stress-busting program and more.
Just one of the many Home Health Care organizations is Home Instead Senior Care with branches all over the U.S. They also offer free monthly newsletters with tips and advice for caregivers of elderly loved ones. You can also do an Internet search for "home health care organizations in XX" (XX = your state) to find out what's available locally, or go to Home Care Association of America and click on the "Find a Provider" link.
The John A. Hartford Foundation"is dedicated to improving the care of older adults" including Age-Friendly Health Systems - "an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States." They sponsor a multitude of programs all over the U.S. to advance health care for people in the "baby boom" generation who are reaching their 70s now, when health issues tend to crop up.
Here's a really helpful factsheet: Supporting the Critical Role of Family Caregivers: State Opportunities on the value and the personal toll of family caregivers, as well as examples of what some states are doing to support this vitally important role. Print it, hand it out, and share it online!
The RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council of the U.S. government's Administration for Community Living (ACL) consists of non-governmental and federal government members chosen for "providing recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on effective models of both family caregiving and support to family caregivers, as well as improving coordination across federal government programs." And Join "The ARC" Chat/Video Forum to Build the ARC!
Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC)? "HBPC programs provide appropriate care (primary, urgent, or palliative) to high-risk, medically vulnerable patients, often suffering multiple chronic conditions, when and where they need it. This patient-centric, continuous care model delivers clinical, economic, and human benefits such as: