Home Care and Home Services

Services delivered in the homes of older adults have become an increasingly popular form of care in recent years. Such services allow older persons to remain in the familiar surroundings of their homes and neighborhoods, thus avoiding the trauma that can be associated with relocation and entry into a nursing home or related facility. In-home services, by definition, are based in the community and represent a desirable alternative in many cases to the health and social services provided to incapacitated older adults in institutional settings such as nursing homes, homes for the aged, and other long-term care facilities. Not only are such services usually preferred by older individuals, they can also be provided, in many cases, more cheaply than would be the case in institutional settings. Home care services can also provide important temporary respite for family members and others providing care to incapacitated older persons.

Home care patients, like hospital patients, have certain rights and protections that must be documented in a written patient bill of rights and provided by the agency to all recipients of service. The federal government requires that all home care patients be informed of their rights, which are also enforced by the law.