Levels of Home Health Care for Elders

Are you considering hiring a Home Health Care service to help take care of your aging loved one? If so, you will need to consider the different levels of home health services that are available. Specifically, does your loved one require a Home Health Nurse, an Aid, or just a Companion?

If your Elder Care needs are higher on the medical side, you might consider a Home Care Registered Nurse or a Licensed Practitioner Nurse. RNs and LPNs are able to handle pretty much anything. They can administer medication, monitor changes in health, etc, while helping with other things like bathing and putting on clothes, etc. Home Care services will generally charge between $20 and $30 per hour for the services of a nurse.

Many patients will not need that kind of intensive care, but will still require some basic help. This is where Nurses Assistants or Home Health Aides come in. These individuals can help your loved one get out of bed, wash themselves, and take care of their immediate needs. Home Health Care services will often charge $15-20 per hour for this level of care.

But what if your loved one needs supervision without medical help? For example, what if he or she is battling dementia and needs a person to keep them company and make sure they don’t wander off? A Companion can come in handy in these situations. Companions are not trained to take care of patients grooming or medical needs, but they do know how to have conversations, how to give basic housekeeping assistance such as preparing lunch, and offer peace of mind by keeping a watchful eye. Home Health Care services will charge slightly less for this level of service as they would for Home Health Aids, but still somewhere between $15 and $20 per hour.

Medicare will generally help cover the cost of Home Health Care. Check with your medicare adviser to be sure.

For a Home Health Care Directory of Eugene, OR, click here.