Personal care systems refer to the types of care that may be provided to different types of people, ranging from the elderly to the invalid or developmentally challenged, in an environment that is familiar to these individuals, such as their home. The types of personal care systems range from the provision of rehabilitative care, therapeutic care or care for the elderly. Other types of personal care systems include the provision of home hospice care for the terminally ill who are not expected to make a recovery.
An inclusion in the types of personal care systems is the provision of rehabilitative care to those who may be sick or who may be recovering from some type of illness. The specification of the type of people to benefit from this inclusion in the list of personal care systems is not restricted by such considerations as age, since even the very young can benefit from this type of personal care system. In this case, the family of the invalid will hire either a private nurse, nurse aide or some other form of certified nursing professional to help nurse the invalid back to health. The duties of such an individual will include administering the right dosage of drugs to the invalid at the prescribed times as well as other tasks that include bathing, feeding and taking the person out for some exercise. Other duties may be determined by the type of illness or injury from which the patient is recovering, such as accidents that may require the application of prescribed therapy.
In the case of elderly personal care systems, the job of the private duty nurse or the aide will be determined by the degree of age-related infirmity that has beset the individual. For those who still retain a good percentage of their mental facilities and merely require assistance with therapy for arthritis or other age-related problem, the job of the personal care assistant is not that detailed. Usually, in order to save costs, the nursing aide might combine both nursing duties with light housekeeping duties, including running errands and preparing meals for the elderly person. Where the dementia or senility has reached an incapacitating phase, the duties of the aide will be increase and may result in the aide needing to live with the elderly person in order to provide care for him or her at all times.