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What IS Home Care?

A square image with orange paper texture at the top. The text says "What IS home care?" under the orange it says "Home Care can mean different things to different people, depending on their unique needs..."

From a technical standpoint, Home Care is providing non-medical assistance with Activities of Daily Living in a person's home. But what does that really mean in the context of a person's life?


As addressed in previous posts, it's easy to hear "Home Care" and think of a fairly narrow definition, applying only to specific age groups and types of care. Typically people think of helping seniors shower and use the restroom and maybe doing some meal preparation.


While these are all things Caregivers can provide, they are by no means the only thing! Our mission at Enlightenment Home Care is to provide care catered specifically to the needs of each individual we care for, and that might mean that the same task looks different for each person.


Let's say we have 2 clients: Joe and Hannah. Joe is 78 years old and paralyzed from the waist down, while Hannah is a 32-year-old single mother of a brand new baby.

An image of a baby's hand gripping an adult's finger with the text "home care might look like: an extra pair of hands when a new family member arrives"

Joe needs help with bathing, dressing, meal preparation, light housekeeping, running errands, and transferring from bed to wheelchair and vice versa.


Hannah needs help with dressing, running errands, meal preparation, and light housekeeping.


Both clients need assistance with some of the same Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), but they are needed for different reasons. Hannah and Joe both need a hand getting dressed and ready for the day. Joe needs it because he can't move his body below the waist, and maybe his arthritis makes it hard for him to manage buttons. Hannah just had a new baby and had a tough delivery, so she needs help getting dressed so she doesn't over-exert herself.


Hannah wants help with meal preparation for herself so she can focus on caring for her new daughter, while Joe would like assistance because he doesn't live in a home with a wheelchair accessible kitchen, and cooking hasn't ever been his thing.


Both clients also need help with errands and light housekeeping. Joe is no longer able to drive because of his paralysis, while Hannah wants to be able to stay home and look after her daughter and needs someone to run to the store to get necessities. Both clients are currently struggling with mobility, so getting help with the daily upkeep of their home is also a huge benefit.


An image of someone washing their arm in the shower, with the text "Home care might look like: assistance with personal upkeep such as bathing, dressing, and grooming."

2 people, who are completely different in age and life experience, both needing help with similar tasks for their own unique reasons. Hannah may choose to end services once her new baby is a little older and Hannah herself has recovered enough to start managing on her own. She might also decide that the additional help is worth keeping around long-term! Joe's care needs may increase with age and start including more tasks, or he may choose to move to a facility.


In either case, Home Care provided an extra helping hand to make the individual's life easier and more comfortable, and allowed them to stay in their own home. At it's core, this is the main function of in-home care, regardless of who the care is being provided to. Instead of Joe and Hannah, we could have an individual who is only 26-years-old but is blind and needs some help with daily tasks. Or perhaps we're hired to assist a 56-year-old recent widow, who needs help preparing meals and just wants some company.


An image of people sitting in a group and gesturing while talking. The text at the top of the image says "Home care might look like: having someone to talk to and spend time with."

While the ADLs remain the same, each person's reason for needing them is different, and they are all approached differently in each scenario. There is no one simple definition for "Home Care," because "Home Care" has a unique meaning for each and every person.


How about you? Have you ever needed help with one or more of the ADLs and IADLs (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living) listed in the image below? It's very likely that you have! Most of us will need help with these activities at multiple points in our lives due to injuries, surgeries, disabilities, age, etc.


Home Care has nothing to do with age and everything to do with the care you receive. Now that you've seen some examples, does Home Care mean something new to you?



 
 
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