In-home care includes a wide range of services beneficial to both the person living with dementia and the caregiver. In-home care is flexible and can be arranged to meet your needs, whether you need a caregiver few hours a week or 24 hours a day. There are both medical and non-medical in-home services. Medical care (also known as “skilled care”) is usually found through a home health agency. Non-medical services can be found using home care agencies. Some agencies provide both medical and non-medical services. To find home care or home health agencies in your area, contact your primary care physician or reach out to your local Area Agency on Aging. Depending on eligibility, you may be qualified for certain programs that help cover some of the cost of in-home services. Reach out to your local Area Agency on Aging to learn more about these programs.
Below is a general overview of in-home care services provided by home care and home health agencies.
Companion services: Support with leisure activities, outings, supervision.
Person care services: Support with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, toileting, and eating.
Homemaker services: Support with housework like light housekeeping, running errands, laundry, washing dishes.
Skilled care: physical therapy, occupational therapy, wound care, social work, medication management and other needs by a medical professional. Typically, a home health agency provides these services after they have been ordered by a physician.
It’s important to spend time researching and interviewing home care agencies, so you find a good match for your loved one. You may find it helpful to tell the home care provider about your loved one and their interests during the interview process.
You can find and compare Medicare-funded home health providers on Medicare.gov.