I was curious to know what do people who use a home health aid use them for? My husband is mobile and can dress himself but I am looking into using one to help me with care, just not sure what they can help with.

I know that near us are a few places that will help with basic care. They mainly just help with meals, going to appointments, and grocery shopping......basically whatever is needed. Sometimes to just be there.

Home health aides can help with direct care. My husband was also mobile and able to dress himself. They can do laundry, light cleaning in the patients general area, cooking, shower, reminders, (eat, bathe brush teeth, etc & assistance where needed). It all depends on the individual aide you have. One of the aides we had was very rude. She insisted that she could not do many things because it would have benefited my daughter and myself, (think how sad that is, I was caring for my hd husband jhd child and working full time and the aide would not prepare more than a sandwich because if she prepared a meal my daughter and I would have benefited, or if she cleaned- it would only be in the computer room where my husband spent most time on the computer), would not change bedding as I shared the bedroom......While my mother's aide assisted her with a full course meal to so she could continue with quality of life and feel she did not have to give up her love for having family over for a special occasion. It all depends on how compassionate someone is. I ended up having the aide organize my husbands wardrobe cabinet by labeling shelfs "short sleeve shirts" -long sleeve shirts, pants, shorts, etc.

Thanks Stacey and Judy, I will have to call the insurance company and see where I call and get some information from the company.

I am surprised they would not help you stacey, specially since your daughter was effected too.

You are so right about the nurses. I have had very good nurses and very bad ones. I have been fortunate in the spring for the last two years. I have had plant loving nurses and they and Tony could not wait for me to go to work in the morning so that they could get in the car and go to every nursery in town. Our patio was been nice with every pot filled with their purchases. I had one who stole things from the house and stayed on her cell phone so much that I could not discuss anything with her without the thing ringing. There was an agency policy against cell phones except for use to do the job. She got or made a call every fifteen minutes. Another one stayed on her phone so much that she did not feed Tony all day. I finely changed agencies. They made rules for the employees but never enforced them. My new agency is more expensive but much more professional. They pay the nurses more than the first agency and have more rigid hiring requirements. The charge more but I think it is worth it.

Insurance companies will probably require the agency to be certified and that the nurses be Certified Nurses Aides (CNA).

I have a very good nurse with Tony now and it makes all the difference in how he feels. I just asked for a replacement for the alternate nurse on Friday. There was nothing wrong with her really. She just did her homework or read a book and spent little time with Tony and he was bothered that she didn’t cook much or clean his area. Don’t hesitate to ask for a new nurse if you are not pleased with the one that the agency sends out first. Maggie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2011 04:39PM by Maggie.

I am VERY lucky with the home health aide I have. She is WONDERFUL. She cleans up kitchen, keeps dads room spotless, cleans our guest bathroom. Sweeps, mops every day. She is at our house monday-Friday while I am at work. My dad is bedridden, so she gives him bed baths, changes his depends. shaves him, lotions him. Reads to him, watches TV with him. We are REALLY lucky to have her and this last year she has been with us has made things so much easier. She prepares meals, and ensures we have enough to feed him for dinner so that I dont have to spend time pureeing his foods, and on Fridays she has a cook a thon and prepares all the meals to get me through the weekend. Did I say how much I love her? ha.

It is wonderful to hear about the suiccess some of you have had with nurses and home health aids. Itis always good to hear when the system works and what to do when it doesn't. It is also always so good to hear from you, Maggie and to hear how Tony is doing. I am glad he is able to speak up to you and tell you what is going on.

And let me add that up to this point, our aid is paid by us. Private pay. Its outrageous the amount we pay, but it still less then what we would pay for a NH.

If you are hiring the aide, you should be able to dictate what she will do to help you. She is a home helper, not a babysitter.

If hiring through an agency, they should provide you with specific guidelines of what services the home aide is to assist with. Those guidelines are written to protect both employees and consumers, to be sure you are getting what you pay for, but that they do not get taken advantage of.

If a state agency if paying for the service, then there are state regulations very specific to what type of help the aid can offer. This is where the limitations of only the patient's areas are cleaned, assist with only the patient's laundry etc. Most state regulations also include activities to enhance the person's day, such as assisting with exercises, activities and leisure interests. s a home care occupational therapist, I
try to encourage aides to participate in these enhancements because i the long run, it makes their job much easier and more interesting. My patients and families are usually very appreciative following this training.

I would start with anything written you have been given. If you are privately hiring the aide, you write the expectations down and present that to the next aide as you are interviewing her. It's sad that people will take advantage of you, but unfortunately, there are some less than noble people ou there.

Patty