About Home Health Services
Home Health is comprised of medical care, personalized assistance and/or rehabilitative therapy provided to patients who are unable to receive the same services outside of their home due to temporary or chronic physical limitations. Based on a person's insurance benefits, other possible services may include social work, respite care or housekeeping.

Got to: Medicare.gov for more information on home health services

• Nursing Services: Home Health Nurses are skilled at monitoring and caring for patient’s medical needs (e.g. vital signs, medication & pain management, diagnosis specific education and specialty tasks such as wound care). Nurses serve as liaisons between you and your physician, keeping them apprised of your care and progress.

• Physical Therapy (PT): PT helps to address a number of physical impairments, including decreased strength, range-of-motion, balance, pain, and mobility (e.g. standing, walking, climbing stairs, and acquiring/training in use of an assistive device). Many patients receiving home health will have PT as part of their program, because difficulty leaving home is often related to an area that can be addressed through a Therapist’s or Assistant’s skills.

• Occupational Therapy (OT): Despite the popular misconception, Occupational Therapy is not designed to help you find a job. Instead, OT's are experts at improving performance with Activities of Daily Living (i.e. tasks that “occupy” a person’s day). For example, OT can help improve performance related to dressing, bathing, eating, etc. Therapists can also make recommendations to improve safety and independence, acquire adaptive equipment and train family/caregivers in care.

• Speech-Language Therapy (ST): Speech Language Pathologists, or SLP's, treat so much more than speech alone. In addition to speech sounds, fluency, language and voice, therapy may help to address social communication, feeding/swallowing and cognition. 

• Social Workers: Home Health Social Workers are compassionate and capable individuals who can assess a patients’ family/social needs and help them to access available resources for which they may be eligible; including, but not limited to, financial assistance, government health insurance, respite care, housing, food, counseling, and placement in an Assisted Living Facility or Hospice program.
  

• Home Health Aides: Home Health Aids or CNA's provide valuable assistance with components of a patient’s care that do not require the skills of a Nurse or Therapist. Responsibilities may include helping a patient to bathe, dress & groom; performing light housework; preparing/serving light meals; supporting a home exercise program; and monitoring/alerting the Nurse of patient condition.