In her book, No Place Like Home, Karen Buhler-Wilkerson, PhD, RN, FAAN, writes, “The earliest US efforts to care for the sick at home (1813) were motivated by a tradition of religious benevolence among wealthy ladies of Charleston, S.C., who entered homes of the poor and dependent to provide care and domestic comfort.”
Similarly, Good Shepherd Health Care System’s (GSHCS) Home Health and Vange John Memorial Hospice department has been carrying out acts of benevolence for community members. But there always seems to be more they have to offer, according to GSHCS Home Health and Hospice Manager Heather Osborne.
“There is a common misconception of what Home Health can provide,” she said. “Almost on a daily basis, our teams receive calls from community members who have an interest and desire for us to help with their personal care giving needs. However, Home Health requires a skilled need only a nurse, physical/occupational/speech therapy can offer. If these skilled needs are needed in the home, then we can provide a bath aide but only for the duration of the skilled need.
“Over the past 12 months, we have had an increase in inquiries for home caregivers. With no other home caregiver agency services in the community, we saw a need, decided to take action and create a service the community was requesting. Personal Home Caregiving is a great addition to the services Good Shepherd offers our community,” said Osborne.
So if a physicians order is needed to meet specific home health needs, what can a Personal Home Caregiver provide? According to Osborne, personal home caregivers can provide non-skilled services such as bathing, personal grooming and hygiene, dressing, shopping and errands, mobility, nutrition, hydration and feeding, laundry, medication assistance, toileting, housekeeping, medical appointment assistance, and transportation assistance.
“Personal Home Care services can be used for a variety of needs,” said GSHCS Vice President of Patient Care Theresa Brock. “For instance, if your mom is in need of one on one feeding assistance at her assisted living residence during lunch time, the personal home caregiver can come to that facility and assist mom to lunch, assist her to eat, assist her to clean up and then assist her back to her apartment. Or maybe you just had a surgery and you need someone to come in and assist you with bathing or doing laundry for a week. Another example is maybe you have an elderly parent living with you and they need some companionship, someone to take them out to lunch and even to a movie. Really, we are able to accommodate many circumstances to help care for your needs.”
Currently, Good Shepherd Personal Home Care caregivers can assist private pay clients. Some private insurances do pay for this service and if it is a covered benefit, they would be able to bill a clients insurance on the client’s behalf. Initial assessments are completed by a registered nurse.
Care could begin the next day pending staffing and needs. For more information regarding Good Shepherd Personal Home Care please contact Karina Torres at 541-667-3469.
