The Role of the Home Health Aide
Home health aides care for patients in the patients' own homes, helping with personal care and homemaking chores so that patients do not have to be placed in a skilled nursing facility. Home health aides work with elderly and disabled patients as well as with patients recovering from illnesses and injuries. Home health aides often travel from home to home, caring for several patients in one day, although in some cases a patient may need more attention and the health aide may spend the entire day.
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Nursing Assistance
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Some duties of home health aides are similar to those performed by certified nursing assistants, and in fact some home health aides are certified nursing assistants. They do things like check patients' vital signs and monitor their physical and mental health status. They report any changes in a patient's condition to the patient's nurse.
Personal Care
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Home health aides provide assistance with personal care, such as bathing, dressing, grooming and toileting. They help patients stay clean and comfortable and provide skin care to reduce the risk of bed sores. They help patients get out of bed and into their wheelchairs or move from the bedroom into another room.
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Nutrition
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Home health aides assist patients with nutrition, preparing and serving light meals and feeding patients who cannot feed themselves. They prepare nutritious meals, adhering to any special dietary guidelines such as a low-sugar diet for diabetics and a low-sodium diet for patients with high blood pressure. They encourage their patients to eat and drink adequate amounts, and they monitor their intake.
Homemaking
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Home health aides often provide homemaking services for patients, such as changing bed linens, doing laundry and grocery shopping. Help with homemaking activities enables many patients to remain in their own homes and to be as independent as possible.
Education
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Home health aides educate patients and family members about basic health matters and care-giving skills. For instance, home health aides may teach family members how to safely transfer a patient from a bed to a wheelchair or how to puree food for a patient who has difficulty chewing and swallowing. They may remind patients about the importance of taking medication on time or sticking to a special diet.
Support
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Home health aides offer emotional support and companionship to patients and families. They provide a listening ear and offer comfort in times of distress. For patients who live alone, home health aides provide much-needed company. For overwhelmed families, home health aides provide a much-needed break, staying with patients for a while so family members can go out.
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References
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