What is In-Home Care?

Before the pandemic, the senior population were moving into senior living communities, mainly due to needing assistance with personal care and/or no longer able to take care of their home. When the pandemic hit, most if not all, senior communities were on lockdown; they did not allow family/friends to visit their loved ones in the communities due to the unknown affects of Covid and how rampant Covid could spread in the communities. Many families decided to move their loved ones out of the communities into a senior apartment or at home with them and utilize in-home care services. When I met with families during the pandemic, they would ask me of any other options besides moving family into a community. There was another option called in-home care. In-home care services skyrocketed during the pandemic because seniors and their families did not want to move into a locked down community and not knowing when the end was in sight.

To simplify the definition of in-home care, it means to bring an outside agency/company/individual into your home for a select number of hours/days to provide personal care to the individual(s). In-home care performs activities of daily living (ADL’s) such as assistance with eating, dressing, mobility/transferring, toileting, and bathing. Services also include light housekeeping, errands, meal preparation, medication reminding, companionship, and respite. In-home care provides the services you would need in a senior community directly in your home.

Some in-home care companies only accept private pay (out of pocket) along with long-term care insurance and VA assistance, if applicable. Other in-home care companies accept Medicaid reimbursement, as well as private pay. With private pay the client can determine how many hours/days they want services in their home. With Medicaid and VA, the client does not determine how many hours/days Medicaid/VA will allow. Medicaid and VA determine how many hours/days are allotted with the in-home care company. Also, Medicaid gives a strict plan of care (POC) for what the client needs, and the caregivers of the in-home care company cannot technically perform services that go outside of the POC. Furthermore, some long-term care insurances do not cover in-home care services, but only senior community level; be cognizant of what your long-term care insurance does/doesn’t cover.

I can confidently say most of us would desire to remain in our homes if possible. In-home care provides us the luxury to do so.