Home Care Attendants
Home care attendants provide a wide range of services to their clients, depending on the client's individual needs. Offerings of home care attendants vary program-to-program, but generally speaking, highly trained attendants can help your loved ones in the following ways:
- Personal Assistance: Helps your loved ones perform tasks such as bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, meal preparation, feeding, cleaning, laundry, ambulation and transfer, shopping, and escort.
- Respite Care: Gives a family caregiver a break from caregiving duties.
- Protective Supervision: Includes supervising the client while at home and/or at medical appointments.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an In-Home Care Program
In-home care programs should not be one-size-fits-all. Every individual has their own unique needs. As a general rule of thumb, the following characteristics should be considered when choosing an in-home care program for your loved ones:
Age-Specific Needs
You should look for an in-home care program specifically designed to meet the needs of those in your loved ones’ age range. For example, if you are looking for care for your young child with special needs, finding an in-home care program service that specializes in caring for special needs children will ensure you get experienced, knowledgeable care. Conversely, if you are looking for an in-home care program for your elderly relative, you should opt for a program that caters to senior care as opposed to more general services.
Special Needs
You should look for an in-home care program specifically designed to meet the special needs of your loved ones. For example, if your loved one has Down syndrome, finding an in-home care program that has experience with individuals with Down syndrome specifically would be preferable to one with experience primarily in autism spectrum disorder.
Individual vs. Group Care
In-home care programs may offer individual or group/family care based on your loved ones’ needs, whether in a family home or group home. If your loved one is living in a group home, choosing an in-home care program with attendants that are experienced at providing care in group home settings may be beneficial.
Family Caregivers
Do you currently have a family caregiver? If so, you should discuss care plans with your loved ones and family caregivers to ensure they get the support they need to care for your loved one. Some in-home care programs work hand-in-hand with family caregivers to provide breaks. In contrast, other programs may be used to completely substitute the care provided by the family caregiver.
In-Home Care Programs: In-Home Care For Your Loved Ones
- Primary Home Care: Designed for individuals whose health has limited their daily function.
- Includes: Personal Assistance.
- STAR PLUS/STAR PLUS WAIVER: Designed for adults who qualify for nursing home placement but want to stay at home.
- Includes: Personal Assistance, Respite Care, and Other Services as Needed.
- Community Living Assistance and Support Services (CLASS): Designed for individuals with an intellectual disability or a disability that has originated before 22 years of age, including bed-bound children.
- Includes: Personal Assistance, Respite Care, and Other Services as Needed.
- STAR Kids: Designed for children and young adults under 20 years old with special needs.
- Includes: Personal Assistance and Respite Care.
- Private Pay Home Care: Designed for any individual who would benefit from caregiver support but is unable to be approved for this service using Medicaid funds.
- Includes: Personal Assistance, Respite Care, Protective Supervision, and Other Services as Needed.
- Adult Protective Services (APS): Designed for adults that get referred and approved for services from Adult Protective Services after an allegation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
- Includes: Personal Assistance and Protective Services.
- Respite: Designed to relieve the primary caregiver.
- Includes: Personal care tasks that are needed when the caregiver is away from home.
- Area Agency on Aging Programs: These programs are designed to assist individuals with immediate needs that can not be approved for services in the options listed above.
- Includes: Personal Assistance, Homemaker Services, and Respite Care.
Learn More About In-Home Care Programs
At Texas Visiting Nurse Service, we provide an array of in-home care programs for individuals with various needs throughout South Texas. We have over 40 years of experience serving our community through multiple offices and have the resources and expertise to match your needs with a home care attendant and services to help.
Contact our friendly team today at 1-800-242-TVNS (8867) or fill out our short online form to learn more about our services!