Witnessing your loved ones in a vulnerable state is not something you look forward to If you have a loved
one who went through hospitalization due to an injury or illness, you might be wondering about what is post acute care.
You may have to see your loved ones be on the receiving end of in-home care services or home health care services. Both of these types of services differ from each other and it is important to educate yourself about both, if you believe that your elderly loved ones could be in need of them. While in-home care services are non-medical services provided by home care nurses, attendants or aides, home health care services pertain to medical care.This post addresses all that you need to know about post acute care, in-home care services, and home health care services.
I found myself in great need of immediate assistance for my adult female child. I chose their service from among many, because I remembered the help, care and quality of person that was dispatched to me when I needed help with my mother, some time ago. Mom is now deceased, but I especially remember that they took great care in finding just the right person to assist my family with my mentally challenged daughter, Kimberley.
I was completely satisfied with the staff, their professionalism and unselfish help. They checked on me and my family on their off duty hours, and presented themselves professionally – with patience, sincerity and a down to earth quality. The personnel coming in to a person’s home from Family Choice Health Care Services conducted themselves like they were working with human beings in need — and that they too, are human beings who understand. You almost forget that they are being paid to help you, because the level of care and professionalism is presented with such sincerity. I count myself blessed to have them.
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Post Acute Care Definition
If you or your loved ones go through any illness or accident that warrants hospitalization, there are chances that you are thinking about what is post acute care.
As the name suggests, post acute care is related to the care services required post hospitalization. These care services are strictly medical in nature and are crucial for the recovery of the patient from an injury or illness. These also include rehabilitation or palliative care services curated to manage chronic disease or disabilities.
Post acute care encompasses a wide range of services that the recipients get after their stay in an acute care hospital. Sometimes these services are provided as an alternative to acute care hospitalization, depending upon the type of illness or injury. It could include a stay in an acute care facility, continuous outpatient therapy or even home health care. It all depends upon the gravity of the ailment.
So, post acute care involves all kinds of medical care services that help patients recuperate and transition from a hospital setting. Facilities that provide these services include acute care hospitals, inpatient rehab facilities, professional nursing care and home health care providers.
Who Needs Post Acute Care?
It is important to note that post acute care is not the same as long term care. While post acute care refers to the transitional care from hospital settings to rehabilitate from a surgery/ wound/injury/ailment, long term care involves both in-home care and home health care for people who may need it for indefinitely longer periods of time. In most cases, long term care is for the elderly or chronically ill or those with disabilities.
However, post acute care is for people of all ages who may require any palliative or rehabilitation services post treatment from the hospital. These could include services like wound care, burn recovery, post stroke care, fracture recovery, amputation care, and pulmonary rehabilitation, to name a few.
These services include medical procedures along with assistive care, and hence need to be administered by registered health care personnel. Post acute care meaning takes into account pain management, restorative and physical therapy, dressing changes, medication administration, oxygen management and much more.
Benefits Of Post Acute Care
Let’s say somebody had a serious accident. They were treated at the hospital, the wounds were dressed, the fractures were taken care of and they were discharged from the hospital after receiving the necessary medical attention.
However, if the fractures or wounds were very intense (lets say a hip fracture followed by multiple wounds and bruises), the patient might need to be closely monitored to make sure that there are no further complications or chances of infection. Putting such a patient into an outpatient setting, could improve the chances of catching any problems early on and treating them through professional intervention before they exacerbate.
Post acute care services also help reduce the burden of hospital readmissions. If a patient receives treatment at a facility and suffers from complications, he might have to be readmitted for further treatment. But if he is referred to post acute care services/facilities, there is a high likelihood that any changes in his/her condition may be caught early on by the trained staff. Thus, post acute care reduces the number of hospital readmissions, and helps patients receive maximum care.
Post acute care includes both medical intervention as well as assistance with daily life activities like bathing, cleaning, eating, using the restroom etc.
Such care can be arranged in the patient’s home, in an outpatient setting or a post acute care facility.
When a patient does not qualify for inpatient care for an acute issue at a hospital, he/she is then referred to a post acute care setting to make sure that adequate transitional attention is provided to them for a well managed recovery. You can learn more about post acute care and its benefits here.
At Family Choice Healthcare, we provide home healthcare and in-home care services which are non-medical in nature. We do not have post acute care services available since they require licensed professional medical care to be administered in an outpatient or home care setting.
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