Your county public health nurse will arrange for an assessment and help you learn more about PCA options available, including types of agencies that provide personal care assistance services and how to hire your own staff.
For more information about PCA services, call us at 651-644-7037 or contact one of our Community Liaisons who can help you navigate.
Personal care assistance services must be medically necessary and ordered by a physician. A person must need help to complete activities of daily living, have health-related tasks or need observation and redirection of behavior to use these four categories of services:
• Activities of daily living (includes eating, toileting, grooming, dressing, bathing, transferring, mobility and positioning)
• Complex health-related functions (includes, under state law, functions that can be delegated or assigned by a licensed health care professional to be performed by a personal care assistant)
• Instrumental activities of daily living (includes meal planning and preparation, managing finances, shopping for essential items, performing essential household chores, communication by telephone and other media and getting around and participating in the community)
• Observation and redirection of behavior (includes monitoring of behavior)
Personal Care Assistant(PCA) services may qualify for a recipient who are enrolled in Medical Assistance, a MCO (managed care organization), Minnesota Care expanded benefits, (AC) Alternative Care, or a waiver program. For more information about our PCA services, call us at 651-644-7037 or contact one of our Community Liaisons. Our community Liaisons can help you navigate.
To be eligible for the personal care assistance program, a person must meet all these criteria:
- Be eligible to receive Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare Expanded (pregnant women and children)
- Require services that are medically necessary and ordered by a physician
- Be able to make decisions about your own care or have someone who can make decisions for you
The personal care assistance program provides services to persons who need help with day-to-day activities to allow them to be more independent in their own home. A personal care assistant is an individual trained to help persons with basic daily routines.
A PCA may be able to help you if you have a physical, emotional or mental disability, a chronic illness or an injury.
Find out if there is a length of time you will be committed to the home care provider even if you are unhappy with the care they are providing. The home care provider should guarantee care and cancel charges for unsatisfactory service.
Ask for names of people, not just the name of a hospital or organization. One good question to ask these professionals or patients: “Would you use these home care agencies again for yourself or your loved ones?”
If you require care beyond that associated with activities of daily living, your doctor ought to be involved. Most agencies will work directly with your doctor in arranging and planning for your care.
When choosing the home care services that are right for you, it is important that the patient and family members discuss the kind of care needed with a home care representative. This will help you determine whether the visiting nurse, therapist, private caregiver or live-in caregiver can meet your needs.
It is difficult to receive good care if different people show up every week. A good home care provider will be concerned with continuity of care with consistent home care services.
Some agencies make scheduled quality assurance calls and visits. To further ensure quality care, see that all visiting and live-in caregivers are regularly and closely supervised by a qualified company representative.
For your protection, ensure that all visiting and live-in caregivers are insured and bonded by the home care agency.
Find out if caregivers’ credentials are investigated. Plus, determine whether visiting and live-in caregivers undergo a thorough, professional testing and screening process.
The number of years that a home care agency has been in business is not always pertinent to the quality of care given, but it does reflect on the stability and success of the company. Our NHH has been in business for 12 years.
Search out the history and ownership of the company. Find out who owns the company and weigh how the ownership affects the company’s service and reliability. Is this agency backed by a nationally strong firm? Is it reputable and in good standing?
Learn more about NHH by calling us at 651-644-7037.
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