Private Duty/ Personal Care Services

Private Duty Home Healthcare

Our home health team consists of registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, medical social workers and certified home health aides.  We take time and consideration to match you with the nurse, aides and therapist who have the skills, language, cultural mores, and expertise to meet your needs.

Private Duty Nursing Care

LifeCare Home Health Family nurses are licensed and insured in their state of practice.  All our nurses undergo extensive ongoing specialty training designed to address home health care experiences, disease states and concerns.

Our nurses will initially come out to perform an assessment upon receipt of doctors’ orders. We will work with you, your caregivers and your doctors to develop a Plan of Care (POC) designed to meet your needs and schedule.  This plan will include the right combination of services to address your condition.  Being a LifeCare patient means that you’ll have access to live on-call support when you need it, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The goal of home health care is to maximize your physical, cognitive and behavioral well-being so you can live independently at home, in your community or place of residence.  Your nurse case manager coordinates, oversees and manages your care plan and all caregivers involved in your care to ensure your care needs are met:

LifeCare Home Health skilled nurses will:

  • Develop and manage your Plan of Care (POC) on an ongoing basis. The POC includes coordination of all disciplines involved in your care whether it be PT, OT, ST, Nursing, Aides, companion care or medication management. The Nurse will review your medical care needs in person and via chart review on an ongoing basis and evaluate and adjust for your needs
  • Keep your family, caregivers and doctor informed about your condition via notes regarding and change in condition, clinical or medical updates, and medication changes
  • Make sure the client and family understand all medications and take them appropriately
  • Teach clients best practices in disease management for their specific disease
  • Help acquire and utilize necessary medical equipment

Private Duty Therapy

Our highly trained physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists combine the latest medical knowledge and most up to date technologies with best-practice techniques and hands-on care to make sure you receive the exact treatment you need.  Your therapist will work with you to develop goals for your recovery and will work with your doctor and your LifeCare nurse to create a plan of care that helps you develop the skills and confidence you need to gain independence.

Physical Therapy

Our LifeCare Home Health Family physical therapists will work with you as you recover from surgery, injury and hospitalization so that you can become self-sufficient and return to everyday life.

Your physical therapist will:

  • Assess your home for safety
  • Determine whether you can benefit from a cane or walker, sit-stand, crutches or Hoyer lift and ensure safe and effective use of all medical equipment
  • Efficient & appropriate use of muscles – suggest ways you can conserve energy and limit strain on joints and muscles
  • Transfer safely – ensure you can get in and out of bed or chair safely
  • Evaluation of Gait – Instruct you in proper use of your gait to navigate stairs, curbs and walking
  • Create exercise programs for strengthening, improving balance and coordination for increased activity aligned with ADL’s
  • Screen for fall risks
  • Educate caregivers on exercises and activities that the client can perform at home with verbal guidance to strengthen results

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy can help you regain the ability to perform everyday activities, such as eating, dressing, bathing, writing or enjoying a favorite hobby. Occupational therapy is beneficial after a physical injury or stroke or for people with brain cancer, neurological conditions, diabetes, arthritis or other serious long-term illnesses. LifeCare occupational therapists visit you at your home or place of residence to help you to:

  • Adapt your day-to-day routine to meet your abilities after injury or stroke
  • Improve fine motor, visual, cognitive and perceptual skills so that buttoning a shirt, putting on shoes, cutting food, brushing teeth or writing your name becomes easier.
  • Learn how to use specially designed equipment or come up with strategies that will help you complete basic tasks safely
  • Recover more quickly through exercise, wheelchair seating and positioning programs and modifications to your home

Speech Therapy

If you or your family member have suffered a stroke, brain injury or an illness that affects the muscles that control swallowing, your doctor may prescribe speech therapy.  Speech therapy, also called speech-language pathology, can benefit patients of all ages. It can be beneficial to those with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, head or brain injury, head and neck cancer, stroke and serious long-term illness. Your LifeCare Home Health Speech Language Pathologist can help you to:

  • Regain and adapt to day-to-day activities
  • Strengthen the muscles of your mouth, neck, and face to avoid problems like choking or coughing and to produce clearer speech
  • Design and teach personalized swallowing programs
  • Instruct you on voice retraining
  • Find other ways to communicate after a stroke, including gestures and facial expressions
  • Use strategies to reduce frustration when communicating is difficult or problematic
  • Understand and process what people say to you
  • Read, write, perform calculations and remember things

Private Duty Aides/Companion Care

LifeCare Home Health provides Home Health Aides to individuals in need of companionship and support with activities of daily living (ADL’s). Our dedicated caregivers are trained in providing support for all activities associated with Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s and IADL’s). Each caregiver is highly trained, screened and licensed by their home state that they provide Home Health Aide Services within.

ADL’s

Our caregivers provide assistance with the 6 primary ADL’s. The six ADLs are generally recognized as:

  • Walking, or otherwise getting around the home or outside. The technical term for this is “ambulating.”
  • Feeding, as in being able to get food from a plate into one’s mouth.
  • Dressing and grooming, as in selecting clothes, putting them on, and adequately managing one’s personal appearance
  • Toileting, which means getting to and from the toilet, using it appropriately, and cleaning oneself
  • Bathing, which means washing one’s face and body in the bath or shower
  • Transferring, which means being able to move from one body position to another. This includes being able to move from a bed to a chair, or into a wheelchair. This can also include the ability to stand up from a bed or chair in order to grasp a walker or other assistive device.

IADL’s – Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)

Our caregivers provide assistance with the 7 primary IADL’s

IADL’s are the self-care tasks we usually learn as teenagers. They require more complex thinking skills, including organizational skills.

They include:

  • Managing finances, such as paying bills and managing financial assets
  • Managing transportation, either via driving or by organizing other means of transportation
  • Shopping and meal preparation. This covers everything required to get a meal on the table. It also covers shopping for clothing and other items required for daily life
  • Housecleaning and home maintenance. This means cleaning kitchens after eating, keeping one’s living space reasonably clean and tidy, laundry and keeping up with home maintenance
  • Managing communication, such as the telephone and mail
  • Managing medications, which covers obtaining medications and taking them as directed