What You Should Know About Home Health Care
What is home health care? It’s an array of services that help with some of the medical care needed to recover from an illness, surgery, or chronic health condition. Explore the different levels and services that are available from a home health care agency.
IVs, Feeding Tubes, and Catheters
Your dad may need to have nutrients and fluids through an IV or feeding tube. Home health care services include care needs like that. Nurses can set up the IV line or feeding tube solution and administer the nutrients or fluids.
If your dad needs a catheter removed or inserted, that’s also a service that can be completed in his home. His nurses will monitor him for signs of a UTI after the removal, so you have extra peace of mind that if something does go wrong, a medical professional is there to make sure treatments are given immediately.
Wound and Incision Care
Wounds and incisions need proper care to avoid infection and aid healing. If your dad doesn’t follow his surgeon’s or doctor’s recommendations, it can become a problem. Home health care nurses can clean wounds and incisions, check for signs of infection, and apply new bandages.
Health Assessments
Home health care nurses also offer health assessments. They can check your dad’s blood pressure, pulse, temperature, oxygen saturation levels, and sugar levels. As the health assessment is completed, the results are shared with your dad’s doctor or surgeon to ensure he’s doing as well as expected. Nurses can also assess your dad’s mood. If he seems more depressed or anxious than usual, his nurse will recognize it and alert his doctor. At that point, any need for treatment can be addressed.
Medication Administration
Your dad has medications that he has to take on time. His nurse helps with medication administration, but his nurses can also help if the medications he needs to take have to be given through an IV solution or injection. Nurses can set up IV lines, administer the fluid drip at the correct rate, and give injections as needed. If he needs his medications altered, his nurses are there and can address the changes without him having to go back to the hospital.
Therapy Sessions
Speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy services are usually completed at a therapist’s office. But, you can arrange to have those therapists come to your dad’s home instead. It’s ideal if he’s struggling with mobility after a fall or stroke. It also helps out if he has dementia and doesn’t like to go anywhere in his car.
Home health care services offer a number of benefits. It’s a good way to keep your dad from returning to a hospital, worsening his health with improper care, or having to take care of tasks that you’re not comfortable handling on your own. Arrange home health care services by making a call.