What Does a Home Health Aide Do, Exactly?

For seniors who want to enjoy their retirement at home and stay active in their communities, in-home care can be a real blessing! With a bit of extra assistance and companionship from home health aides, in-home care is convenient for seniors who want to stay independent. Not to mention, this type of service also provides peace of mind for loved ones who worry about their senior parent living alone. But what exactly can a home health aide do? What tasks do they or don’t they perform for seniors in their care? Leading senior home care providers in NJ have put together this list of  what to expect when you hire a home health aide.

Home health aides fit into your unique schedule

Home health aides do not work standard 9 am to 5 pm hours. In fact, home health aides often say that there’s no such thing as a typical week – every single client and every single day is different. That’s because each aspect of the day is tailored to what the person needs, so it changes from person to person, day-to-day.

For example, a family caregiver may need a home health aide to look after a senior loved one with dementia a few hours a week, so that they can go grocery shopping or see a friend. Another home health aide may be needed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide expert nursing care to a patient recovering from an illness or surgery. Yet another aide could be called in permanently from 9-5 every workday so that a family caregiver can balance their career and family responsibilities. Whatever you and your loved one needs, a home health aide is there to fit into your schedule.

Typical tasks and responsibilities home health aides take on

You can request a home health aide to perform the following duties for your loved one on an as-needed basis:

• Provide hourly, overnight, or full-time care
• Perform a care plan that is established and monitored by a registered nurse
• Nursing care, medication management, and wound care
• Assistance with bathing, grooming, and dressing
• Meal preparation and assistance with feeding
• Assistance with moving around and exercise
• Light housekeeping duties, laundry, and cleaning
• Running errands and doing grocery shopping
• Transportation to medical appointments and other scheduled events
• Providing companionship
• Arrange for visiting physician services
• Pastoral care, if requested

Of course, if there are any other care requirements you or your loved one needs, including hospice, palliative, or dementia care, our home care providers would be happy to discuss a personal care plan that can be scaled to your loved one’s requirements. Our scalable services ensure that senior care is as affordable as possible without sacrificing the quality of care given. 

At HomeWorks, our home health aides are fully trained and truly enjoy every day of their vocation. By working with seniors’ loved ones and building strong, caring relationships, we work to ease the minds of every family. We are proud to assist seniors in our communities, helping to make their retirement years safe, full, and happy. 

For more information on our senior home care services in NJ, please contact us today or visit our website at https://umcommunities.org/homeworks/home-health-aide-services/