Non medical home care (also called caregiving) is a services that helps those in need by assisting with activities of daily living (ADLs) in order to continue living life from the comfort of his or her own home. This can include anything from assisting to the bathroom, to grocery shopping, to help with bathing; with many options in between. Care can be provided as minimally as 1-3 hours at a time to 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

Home Health services are medically necessary in-home medical care services. These include intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services, continued occupational services, and more. Usually a home health care agency coordinates the services your doctor orders for you. Home health services may also include medical social services, part-time or intermittent home health aide services, medical supplies for use at home, durable medical equipment, or injectable medications.

https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/10969.pdf

Palliative care is in-home medical care that addresses: pain and symptom control, communication and coordination of services, emotional support, and family/caregiver support. Palliative care addresses the whole person. It helps you carry on with your daily life. It improves your ability to go through medical treatments and it helps you better understand your condition and your choices for medical care. Palliative care may be right for you if you are experiencing pain, stress and other symptoms due to a serious illness. Serious illnesses include but are not limited to: cancer, cardiac disease, respiratory disease, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s, AIDS, ALS, and multiple sclerosis. Palliative care is appropriate at any stage of a serious illness and you can get it along with treatment meant to cure you.

http://www.nhpco.org/palliative-care-4

Hospice is a program of care and support for people with a life limiting illness that are no longer choosing to seek aggressive treatment. The focus of hospice care is comfort. Hospice care addresses the whole person including physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Services include medical care, counseling, medication, medical equipment and supplies for the illness and related conditions. Services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 100% covered by Medicare.

https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/02154.pdf

As our senior population has grown and is continuing to live longer the need to bring services into the home has increased. Many companies have come along to meet these demands. Durable medical equipment (DME) may be what is needed to make your everyday life easier. This could be anything from a cane or walker to a shower chair or hospital bed or a bedside commode. Furthermore, as leaving home may become increasingly difficult many services come directly to you. There are mobile physicians, home visiting dentists, mobile x-ray, and the list goes on.