Deciding what kind of care is necessary usually starts with "what can the person do for themselves?":

• Can they do much of their own grooming, or do they need assistance?
• Can they do their own housekeeping, laundry and grocery shopping, or do they need assistance?
• Do they have a medical need they cannot take care of, such as wound dressing or medication administration?
• Can they stay alone safely?

     The answers to these basic questions will point you in the direction for deciding what kind of home care is needed.  There are numerous options for care available - supportive care, skilled nursing, adult care homes and assisted living.

Supportive Care

At Home Solutions provides supportive care.  It is designed to help persons remain at home by helping with life functions and to improve quality of life.  An example of this type of care is bathing and grooming assistance, housekeeping/home management, shopping and errands.

• Much more affordable than skilled nursing care; however, it is not covered under Medicare.  Supportive care agencies cannot legally provide nursing services.
• Many agencies will provide as little as 2 hours a week of service, up to full time, or 24 hours a day.
• Arizona does not require licensing of supportive care (or non-medical) agencies.  It is important to make sure an agency conducts regular and random visits to the home to monitor services.

Skilled Nursing

Necessary when a medical condition is present requiring nursing care, such as persons needing wound care, medication administration, continual vital sign monitoring or who are ventilator dependent.

• Typically quite expensive, provided through a Home Health Agency or Private Duty Agency.
• Skilled nursing can be covered under Medicare with a doctor's order for a specified period of time.
• Almost all skilled nursing agencies are certified and licensed through the federal and state government, since most of these agencies perform services for Medicare.  These certification and licensing standards are quite high and typically include certification audits.

Adult Care Home

Adult Care Homes are usually operated by private individuals who have converted a residence into a private or semi-private home that can accommodate anywhere from 3 to 10 individuals.

• Designed for persons who cannot safely live alone due to a medical condition such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia.
• Range in level of assistance required to keep persons with similar ability levels residing together.
• Have a "homey" atmosphere, and typically employ full-time around-the-clock staff to supervise the residents.

Assisted Living

Assisted living apartments or facilities can offer individuals a range of living and care services, from independent living to full service care.

• Can be moderately expensive as there are many services "built in" to the cost, such as meals and housekeeping.
• Most housing does not provide direct care other than very basic housekeeping, although a few facilities will provide staff for hands-on bathing asisistance.

To search for a list of companies providing these services in the Phoenix area, click here.