Home Care Nova Scotia
November 02 2021Home Care in Nova Scotia.
There may come a time when you or a loved one needs help to remain safely in your home. Nova Scotia home care can improved quality of life for the person needing care as well as their families.
Home care is available to all Nova Scotians who need care support in their homes through government funded programs. Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) and Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness (DHW) work with a number of agencies to provide home care services in Nova Scotia. These agencies are approved to offer services in the public health system and ensure they meet standards.
Publicly funded home care in Nova Scotia is a subsidized service based on the home care needs and income.You can talk to someone about the publicly funded Home Care in Nova Scotia by calling Continuing Care at 1-800-225-7225. You may need to leave a message with your name, contact number and brief message about your needs. A care coordinator will return your call.
Private Home Care in Nova Scotia.
You may decide to hire private home care in Nova Scotia to supplement the government funded home care programs or to completely replace the publicly funded program. Selecting the home care services of a private agency or person is an important decision.
You want to know that you're not putting yourself or your loved on at risk and that you feel comfortable with the people representing the agency, having examined all the available options.
How do you choose Private Home Care in Nova Scotia?
Decision-making can be hampered if you do not know the questions to ask.
- What are the range of home care services offered?
- Do they match the needs of the home?
- What training so the care providers have and will that meet the needs in the home?
- What are the hours of service offered?
- If overnight, weekend or evening care is required, can the agency meet these needs?
- Are they able to provide a replacement if the regular care provider needs to be off?
- What are the policies around cancellation or suspension of services?
- How much flexibility is there in the services offered?
- Are the caregivers screened, bonded and insured?
- Are they providing and ensuring consistent staffing?
Hiring a home care in Nova Scotia should also mean supervised care. That is, a care provider does not make important decisions about the client's care independently. An experienced professional should work in collaboration with teh family and/or client to ensure there is a clear care plan in place and makes changes as necessary.
An in-home assessment should never come with an obligation or fee. it should be an opportunity for the client or family to ask questions, get a feel for the agency and how open it is to collaboration. The client care manager will ask questions to determine client needs. If services are engaged, then a personalized care plan should be created and followed by the care provider working in the home. There should be continuous feedback and discussions between the family, the caregiver and the client care manager to best meet the needs in the home.
When shopping or bill payment is part of the assistance there must be clear policies and solutions to protect the client from any financial rosk and preserve the care provider integrity.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority offers a series of suggestions to consider when hiring provate home care in Nova Scotia, found at http://www.nshealth.ca/things-consider-when-hiring-private-unregulated-home-care . Caregivers Nova Scotia offers information and resources to help plan the care of a family member or friend at https://caregiversns.org/ .
