What are various home health skilled nursing services – all the services described
Given the fast paced and hectic work life balance people are undergoing these days, taking out time for health care has also become quite a task. And when it comes to hospitalization due to a particular medical ailment, things can become a bit challenging.
Thankfully, the culture of home health care services has gradually picked up a lot of traction in India, after having a successful adaptation in other countries. Currently, there are a lot of services which do come under home health care, with which one can be ensured of optimum attention and benefits, sometimes even more than what one can get in a hospital.
Following are some of the most sought after services which one can avail under home health care:-
● Doctor care – As per this service, a dedicated doctor is assigned to one, whose duty is to visit the home of the patient, in order to diagnose, treat and keep a periodic record of the detected illness at the patient’s home itself.
● Nursing care – This is one of the most popular services, and has been in demand for a long time now. Under this, a registered nurse is appointed after proper consultation with the doctor, who takes care of the patient’s various needs, like monitoring the progress of health of the patient, wound dressing, medications, intravenous therapy and pain control and any other medical support which is required.
● Physical/occupational/speech therapy – In some medical conditions, a person’s ability to hear or speak unfortunately gets affected, either temporarily or permanently. This affects his/her daily duties and work, for which he/she might need external support. For those who get temporarily affected by this condition, a physical therapist is appointed who charts up a plan which helps in normalizing the hearing or speaking ability of the affected person with a gradual pace. This helps in bringing back the normalcy of the affected person in performing various daily tasks such as eating, dressing up, bathing and more.
● Medical social services – For those who require various counseling or locating many community resources in order to maintain a social balance, medical social workers are appointed under home health care services. These medical social workers can also double up as the patient’s major case manager, given the complexity of the medical condition of the patient.
● Care from home health aides – For bare basic daily duties such as walking, dressing up, eating or even getting out of bed, which can get affected if the medical condition is too serious (like paralysis or road accident), home health aides can help out the affected patient. Sometimes, these home health aides do take proper training under a medical nurse, for specialized care.
● Homemaker or basic assistance care – There are various other tasks which are executed on a primary basis not even for the patients but also his/her family members or caretakers, such as cooking, grocery shopping and laundry. For these tasks, aid from a homemaker or basic assistance care can be taken.
● Companionship – This is one of the most basic home health care services, which can come very handy in case the affected person does not have the presence of his loved ones like family members or friends around him. In this service, a dedicated person is appointed to provide just companionship and even execute household duties as well.
● Volunteer care – Nowadays, various community organizations, under which the affected person might be enrolled, do assign volunteers, in order to provide a basic level of comfort to the patient. Such volunteers can help out the patient in his daily chores as well as support on the grounds of emotions or providing transportation and other daily chores.
● Nutritional support – While dieticians are nowadays very much sought after for workout and self-improvement plans, they also prove to be very helpful in charting up proper dietary assessment for the patient for faster recovery and health monitoring.
● Laboratory and X-Ray imaging – In recent days, many complex tests and examinations, such as blood and urine tests and X-Ray imaging need not to be done only in dedicated laboratories but can also be done at the patient’s home. These can be done with the help of portable machines and testing devices.
● Pharmaceutical services – Thanks to the adaptation of online shopping culture, even medicines and medical and testing equipment can be ordered directly at home. However, this needs to be done only after proper guidance from the assigned doctor and medical staff.
● Transportation – If a patient is required to leave the comfort of his/her home for some medical tests or other physical examinations, there are some companies which also assign dedicated drivers, who can provide transportation to and from the patient’s place.
● Home delivered meals – If the patient is not having proper access to homemaker or cook, there are some home health care services and communities which provide freshly cooked meals at doorstep, whenever required.