Category: Healthcare

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES

When it comes to choosing the right home health care services, it’s absolutely certain that you want nothing short of the best for your loved ones. Find the right service can be exhausting, overwhelming and filled with a load of questions – and rightly so! The patient should always be number 1 – and you need to be completely at peace knowing that he or she is going to be treated like royalty. Here are 5 helpful tips to help you choose the right provider.

The Credibility Check

When choosing home health care services (commonly referred to as Aya services), the first thing to do is check their credibility. Ensuring that the staff they deploy are not only trained, but qualified and experienced to provide superior care is important. Reviews and testimonials also play a vital role in deciding whether or not the provider is trustworthy.

The Experience

It’s always safe to look for a provider that has experience in the field. Looking for 25 years or more shows that they have been successful to maintain themselves in the market and have had several experiences to learn from. This plays a huge role in how an agency picks their staff, trains them and deploys them. Knowing that your home health care services provider has years of knowledge under their belt provides a safety net that you may be able to rely on.

The Pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is especially true when you’re on the look out for Aya services. Though putting up pictures of actual patient care may be unethical and scarce to find, there are several other ways an agency can show themselves through pictures. This shows transparency and an active workforce behind the scenes. A provider that lacks credibility may often shy away from showing off their teams.

The Services

One factor that cannot be ignored is the services – are the services provided what you are looking for? Factors like time, availability and the actual healthcare you’re seeking should fit your needs. An important area to evaluate is whether your provider offers a consultation and is therefore able to tailor-make the services to fit your needs. This will not only reinforce the knowledge that they are skilled in what they do, but also that you are going to be understood and taken care of.

The Expense

This may go without saying, but does your healthcare provider fit your budget. It is important to keep a realistic budget to ensure that you are availing of quality services, however, especially in cases where care may be long-term, affordability is a major player in the decision-making process.

Remember, the patient may be number one, but you are a priority too! The right fit will not only leave you peaceful, but happy too!

Essential factors why you need a palliative care

What is palliative care and why is it so important? The World Health Organization (WHO) states that Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and that of their families who are facing challenges associated with life-threatening illness, whether physical, psychological, social or spiritual. This means that a patient who is fighting for their life, sometimes even for prolonged periods of time, can receives healthcare at home to improve their quality of life.

WHO estimates that each year, an estimated 40 million people are in need of palliative , but only 14% receive it. It is noted that among those that do receive palliative care, the patient as well as the family of the patient experience a better quality life. Palliative care can include a range of services from nursing care to physiotherapy, physicians and volunteers -essentially anyone who is dedicated to ensuring the comfort and care of patients fighting life threatening illnesses. The primary and most frequent person however, are nurses as they are able to identify and act on the patient’s needs with medical understanding. Some of the illness that may require palliative care include:

  • Cancer
  • Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease
  • Advanced lung, heart, kidney or liver disease
  • Stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis
  • Huntington’s disease
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • HIV/AIDs

And other degenerative or deteriorating conditions

These illness can be extremely difficult on the patient as well as their family. So why is it so important to have palliative care?

  1. Quality of life – In it’s definition, palliative care is designed to ensure that a patient is ensured the best quality of life in their situation. This may mean managing pain or other medical symptoms, making them comfortable or simply allowing them to experience joy in spite of their condition. While they still must face their illness, the support of palliative care in controlling pain and other symptoms can make each day a more positive experience that allows the patient to make the most of the time they have with their families.
  2. Improved mental health – It is no secret that receiving healthcare at home has great benefits over institutionalised care. However, being at home, surrounded by loved ones and familiar surroundings allows the patient to have an improved state of mind. This means that in spite of their suffering, they are able to experience joy and peace in the midst of their battle for life.
  3. Elongated lifespan – By opting to have nursing care round the clock, the nurse may be attentive to unusual medical symptoms and raise the alarm if needed as well as take quick and appropriate action. This may prevent a patient from early loss of life due to treatable conditions. The improved mental state of mind also contributes to longer lifespan as the mind plays a vital role in the body’s overall well being. A happy, determined patient is more likely to thrive than a patient who may have given up.
  4. A higher chance of recovery – Not all life threatening illnesses are terminal. Some may be treatable with time and the right course of action. With the exception of terminal patients, those with a chance of recovery have greater odds of fighting the illness when trained professionals are made available to them 24/7. While this is no guarantee and completely dependent on the patient’s medical case, there are cases that show that palliative care can lead to a full recovery.
  5. A positive experience – On the opposite end of the spectrum, some patients may in fact be terminal and may have a limited amount of time. In such cases, receiving nursing care or palliative care ensures that not only are the pain and symptoms controlled, but also that the patient has the most positive experience overall in their last few days. By staying by their side, ensuring appropriate care, offering companionship and allowing them to be with family, the patient is able to have a more positive and loving experience in their final days.

Palliative care is essential for patients with life threatening illnesses. In fact, it’s one of the best things they can receive if the care is delivered by a trained professional. That’s why we are so passionate about these services!