Finding Out About Local Home And Health Care Programs
Home care is a group of services to help people live at home when they are ill or recovering from an illness or surgery rather than staying in a hospital or long-term care facility.
Basic Services
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Visiting nurses
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Home support (help with homemaking such as light housekeeping, shopping, cooking, laundry)
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Physiotherapy
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Occupational therapy
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Respiratory therapy
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Social work counseling
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Nutritional counseling
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Housing registry
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Personal emergency response systems
Complex Services
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Home intravenous antibiotic therapy
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Life support/ventilator assistance systems
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Services for children with complex needs
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Tube feedings (either by nose or through the stomach wall)
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Home cancer therapy
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Palliative or hospice care
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Care for people who have some form of dementia.
Community Support Services
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Adult day centers
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Meals-on-wheels and/or wheels to meals programs
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Respite care (so that caregivers can have some time off)
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Transportation help
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Help with shopping
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Help with home maintenance.
Home care programs across Canada and the United States provide different services. To find out what is available in your community, you can check with your family doctor, community health office, or other home health care providers. If a particular service is not available in your community, ask your political leaders why and how your community can arrange to get such service in the near future. If you have difficulty in finding out what services are available, you can contact:
Canadian Home Care Association
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association