The VA offers many services and benefits for veterans including medical services. These medical services include both hospital services and in-home care. But for veterans who need assistance at home, it can be difficult to understand what in-home services include and how to go about obtaining services. Here’s an overview of what veterans in Atlanta, Georgi should know about their in-home care options.
What In-Home Care Benefits Are Available to Veterans?
Veterans who are eligible for community care can receive skilled nursing care, homemaker, or home health aide services at their home. The purpose of having a nurse, home health aide or, homemaker is to help veterans who are struggling to do activities of daily living (ADLs), are experiencing isolation, or who already have a caregiver that is stressed or overwhelmed and needs some assistance.
Home health aides and homemakers are not nurses. They help provide non-medical personal care at home and are supervised by nurses. Nurses provide some medical care to patients at home.
How Nurses, Home Health Aides, and Homemakers Help Veterans
When a nurse comes to a veteran’s home, they provide what is called skilled home health care.
Nurses will:
Assist with caring for wounds or catheters
- Perform a home safety evaluation
- Educate veterans about their medications and illnesses
- Give home IV infusions and antibiotics
- Perform ventilator care
- Draw labs
- Give injections
Home health aides help support the care given by nurses at home by:
- Helping veterans with home exercise program exercises.
- Helping with ambulation and transferring
- Take vital signs
- Help with ADLs like bathing, dressing, and grooming when the primary caregiver is unable to or the veteran is unsafe performing them
- Observe and report care and changes to their supervising nurse
Homemakers Homemakers provide personal care as it relates to the home. They help with:
- Shopping for groceries
- Meal preparation
- Laundry and changing the bed
- Ironing
- Vacuuming and Sweeping
- Caring for pets and plants
- Organizing the kitchen
How Do I Obtain Services?
Once veterans are approved for community care, they can obtain services from an agency that is approved to provide care for veterans.
Your Choice Caregivers proudly provides home care for veterans in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Once we receive a referral from the VA for a veteran interested in our care services, our care team talks with the veteran and their family and will start care services based on what has been approved. If you have questions about the care services we provide, contact us today!