Disability home care is the provision of assistance to a person with disabilities who may have difficulty performing tasks of daily living like cleaning, taking medications, or using the bathroom. Home care is an example of community-based care, where the goal is to keep the disabled person in her community rather than obliging her to relocate to an institution. It preserves independence by allowing people to live on their own with assistance, and can significantly improve quality of life. Government programs can provide funding for disability home care and people may also pay for it on their own or through private insurance.
The types of services offered as part of disability home care vary depending on the nature of the disability and the degree of assistance required. Sometimes they can be provided by an unskilled person, while in other cases the care provider needs some training. In some cases, a trained nurse is needed for tasks like administering injections and monitoring health concerns. Costs for home nursing care tend to be much higher, especially if the nurse needs to live in to provide continuous assistance.
Some disabled persons need disability home care to help them with tasks like cooking, cleaning, doing errands, and managing their homes. The home care provider visits on a schedule to offer assistance and may also provide transportation for running errands and attending events. This low-level care is available through people with no special skills.
People with disabilities may require assistance with tasks like getting in and out of bed, using the bathroom, and dressing. These require a higher skill level. An aide or personal assistant may need to be present at all times or could visit on a schedule, spending several hours a day with the client. This level of disability home care can also include traveling with the client so she can go out into her community and take trips with assistance. Aides and personal assistants can also participate in facilitated communication, helping clients who have trouble communicating with members of the general public, and can help clients navigate forms, negotiations, and other administrative tasks.
High-level disability home care requires assistance with medical tasks like flushing catheters, managing colostomy bags, administering injections, and wound care. This may need a nurse or a technician with training in this particular area of disability home care. Some people meet their care needs with a regular aide for most tasks, bringing in a nurse for certain needs. This can be less expensive than full-time nursing care, and also ensures that nurses are performing tasks more appropriate to their skill level by separating out medical and personal assistance tasks.
