Home Health Care Services
A Note About Your Physician's Role
A physician is responsible for ordering Home Health Care. Your physician must certify that Home Health Services are necessary because the person is confined to the home and in need of the various services requested. The physician will establish a treatment plan, which will be periodically reviewed to verify the continuing need for the home care service.
Types of Services Available
For information on these services, call 618/463-5683.
Skilled Nursing -- Nursing services, treatments and procedures requiring specialized skill as ordered by a physician.
- Assessing vital signs and reporting to physician
- Monitoring medications and medication response
- Foley catheter care
- Diabetic care
- Laboratory work (blood, urine tests, etc.)
- Colostomy care
- Dressing changes
- Instituting and care of tube feedings
- Teaching family basic nursing principles
- Diet management
- Bowel management
- IV therapy
- Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)
Home Health Aide -- Certified nurses' aides working in conjunction with the nurse -- a vital link between other members of the team and the patient.
- Assisting in bathing, skin and mouth care
- Assisting in treatments when ordered by the physician and supervised by the nurse
- Light housekeeping (linens)
- Reporting any change in the patient's condition to the nurse
Occupational Therapy -- A creative effort by skilled staff aimed toward returning the patient to normal independent functioning despite physical or emotional disabilities.
- Stroke rehabilitation
- Training in activities of daily living, which includes self care, homemaking, leisure skills and other activities which occupy a person's time
- Energy conservation and work simplification skills for patients with cardiac and pulmonary problems
- Joint preservation for arthritis patients, and use of assistive devices
- Upper extremity strengthening and fine motor coordination
Physical Therapy -- Rehabilitation of persons incapacitated by strokes, broken bones, trauma or disease.
- Stroke rehabilitation
- Gait training
- Use of ambulation aides
- Passive and active exercises
Speech Therapy -- Skilled therapists work to retrain patients in verbal, gestural and writing abilities.
- Stroke rehabilitation
- Swallowing disorders
- Speech disorders
- Voice disorders, including laryngectomy
Registered Dietitian -- May consult and instruct patients on complex dietary needs, tube feedings, supplements and other areas of concern.
Respiratory Therapy -- Treatment and assessment of patients with abnormalities of cardiopulmonary function.
- COPD
- Asthma
- Congestive heart failure
- Patients needing continuous oxygen
Medical Social Worker -- Concentrates on needs of the patient ... the personal and emotional problems that grow out of the illness and/or hinder the patient's progress. The social worker considers and works to alleviate any problems family members may have with the presence of illness in the home.
- Assisting patients in applying for medical benefits
- Assisting in finding other community resources the patient may need
- Ordering medical equipment and arranging payment