Caregiving Services Play an Important Role in the Overall Care Plan
Hiring caregiving services is a common step that families take when a loved one needs help at home. However, the strongest caregiver service agencies provide additional services that meet your loved one’s needs throughout their healthcare journey. When needs change, your loved one’s primary support system can change with them, without forcing them to start over.
After all, healthcare journeys rarely follow a straight path. What matters most isn’t that you’ve solved your loved one’s care needs. It’s more important to have a team that can transition with your loved one through every phase.
What Is Continuity of Care?
Continuity of care refers to a coordinated, organized effort to support someone’s health in as many situations and circumstances as possible. This practice views care as far more than an isolated service; it is a group of services that are implemented when appropriate.
The benefits of continuity include:
- Better outcomes due to experience with your loved one’s needs.
- Less time spent re-explaining your loved one’s health narrative.
- More emotional stability for your loved one and family.
- Confidence in a familiar care team.
When 21–59% of patients struggle with care coordination, continuous support from in-home care services makes a difference. In fact, Geriatric Nursing reports that continuity has been associated with:
- Improved mortality rates.
- Fewer medical complications.
- Fewer hospitalizations.
- Lower medical bills.
What Continuity of Care From a Caregiver Service Agency Could Look Like
Although the situation we are going to illustrate is hypothetical, it gives you a sense of how one excellent home caregiving service team can serve a patient at many points in their lives.
A Beloved Grandfather With a Chronic Heart Condition
Jim lives in Kansas City, Missouri, and has six grandchildren he is very proud of, along with a son and daughter who still live nearby in Independence, MO. Jim has been treating Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure for much of his adult life, which has, in part, led to coronary artery disease and a heart attack in his sixties.
Now in his seventies, Jim lives at home by himself and tries to remain as independent as possible. However, his family notices how exhausted he gets trying to care for himself and his home. They decide to hire a private duty caregiver from an agency that offers senior caregiving services. The private duty caregiver assigned to Jim provides support with daily tasks and activities at home, including meals, personal hygiene, light housework, help with his dogs, and even rides to his cardiology appointments.
Jim and his family are satisfied with this support. When Jim experiences another heart attack, he and his family are scared and unsettled. After bypass surgery, Jim is back at home, but has a hard time getting around by himself and is too exhausted to go anywhere. He needs post-surgery care, close assessment of his condition, and assistance with his new medications.
This is when Jim’s doctor orders home health services. Jim and his family are relieved to know that the same caregiving service team provides home health, so there is a seamless transition as the agency already knows Jim and his family, and the family trusts their caregivers. Jim feels confident about his team’s ability to provide him with the care he needs as he takes the next step forward.
Your Loved One Can Benefit From Many Home Care Services
Jim was able to take advantage of two home care services, but there are even more available, depending on your needs. The best caregiver services for seniors offer a range of solutions:
- Private duty care
- Home health
- Department of Mental Health in-home care
- Consumer-directed caregiving services
- In-home Medicaid services
- Hospice
Importantly, continuity of care is not just for adults with chronic conditions, disabilities, or a desire to age in place. Children and young adults with specialized needs under the age of 21 can benefit from skilled nursing and care, including these services:
- Healthy Children & Youth Private Duty Nursing
- Healthy Children & Youth Personal Care
Navigating Chronic Illness: Comprehensive Disease Management
When a loved one’s care needs are complex, including multiple appointments, providers, medications, heavy decisions, and stress, some caregiver service agencies offer a signature program that guides families and their loved ones through their care journey.
Sometimes known as Comprehensive Disease Management (CDM), these programs help children, adults, and families navigate serious, chronic, or life-limiting illness with the solutions they deserve. Along with hands-on care, CDM adds an additional layer of compassionate guidance with the help of a nurse navigator and medical social worker.
Support can include:
- Care coordination.
- Collaboration with physicians.
- Symptom management through palliative care.
- Education.
- Help with advance care planning paperwork.
- Assistance with community resources.
For families who are already giving their all to their loved one, CDM helps bring structure and peace of mind to a situation that can otherwise feel overwhelming.
Having a trustworthy solution is essential when a loved one is experiencing healthcare challenges. A family may begin with private duty care, add home health after a hospitalization, and then benefit from CDM as a chronic illness progresses and decisions become more complicated. CDM is one more way Phoenix helps families stay supported through change instead of starting over every time care needs shift.
Get Support No Matter What Comes Next for Your Loved One
Your loved one and family can access support through many phases of their care. The services that a home caregiver agency provides allow much of that support to happen at home, so your loved one feels comfortable and secure.
If you are considering home caregiving services for a loved one, start by calling your chosen agency and sharing what feels the most difficult for your loved one and family right now. You’ll find that this team can walk you through what services fit your loved one’s needs, now and in the future.
