It is often difficult for individuals and their loved ones to determine whether they could benefit from the assistance of a home health agency. While the patient’s primary physician or other medical professionals will help with this decision, there are several questions you can ask yourself to help you decide:
Do you or your loved one:
- Require complex home treatments like IV medications, wound care, or tube feedings?
- Have unstable problems such as blood pressure, blood sugars, or pain?
- Need nursing or physical, occupational, speech, or respiratory therapy?
- Need medical social services or home health aide?
- Find it difficult to follow your physician’s recommended treatment at home?
- Need assistance with instructions on medications or treatments?
- Have a history of multiple hospitalizations or risky medical history?
- Feel less independent after being discharged from the hospital?
- Have a potentially life-threatening, severely incapacitating, or terminal diagnosis?
- Have new or adjusted medications?
- Notice a recent decline in daily living activity?
- Require medical observation?
- Need additional care post surgery?
- Need additional care after returning home rehab facility, skilled nursing facility, or assisted living facility?