Every home care provider at Amedisys is carefully selected for their experience and skills. We pride ourselves on our “caregiver spirit” – qualities like kindness, integrity, reliability and patience – that come naturally to the very best personal care assistants. This helps ensure your loved one is treated with dignity and respect, with personalized attention given to their physical and emotional needs.
One of the most important parts of the home care experience is connecting clients with a compatible caregiver. We invest time into finding an ideal match – a private caregiver who can provide a safe, engaging environment for them. We want your loved one to feel comfortable and at ease in their home. At the same time, you’ll receive regular updates and have peace of mind knowing your loved one is getting the support they need to stay safe at home.
How We Ensure Your Safety and Satisfaction
Your family’s safety and satisfaction are our top priorities. We set some of the highest standards in the industry for our home care providers, requiring nurse supervision and thorough screenings. Some of the background checks we conduct include:
- National and county criminal searches
- Motor vehicle driving record checks
- National sex offender searches
- Office of the Inspector General and General Services Administration searches for exclusions from participation in federal healthcare programs
- Elder abuse search through the local department of health
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services search to identify people precluded from receiving payment under certain healthcare programs
- System for Award Management (SAM) database search to identify individuals excluded from government contracting
- Other state-specific background checks
Types of Home Care Providers
Our home care plans are custom-built based on each client’s needs. Here’s a brief introduction to some of the different types of personal care providers on our team:
Home Health Aides
Home health aides are the heart of home care. They have the training to provide hands-on physical assistance, such as helping clients change positions in bed or get in and out of the shower. They can also provide companionship and help with household duties.
Home care aides can provide the full range of services offered by our caregiver agencies. They are the most requested type of private caregiver at Amedisys. They are also sometimes referred to as personal care aides, home aides or home care aides.
Different states have different requirements for personal care aides. Some require home aides to earn a certification after completing appropriate coursework and/or training. At Amedisys, our health aides undergo training that meets the federal requirements laid out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, much like aides who work in home health care.
Services They May Provide:
- Assistance with personal care activities
- Bathing
- Using the restroom
- Getting dressed
- Grooming, such as brushing hair, shaving, trimming nails and brushing teeth
- Medication reminders
- Meal planning and preparation
- Help with eating/feeding
- Light housekeeping and laundry
- Running errands like grocery shopping
- Assistance with devices like a walker or wheelchair
- Accompany clients to appointments or other activities
- Companionship
- Report any change in health to supervising nurse and/or client’s healthcare team
Nursing Assistants
Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) perform many of the same tasks as home health aides, but their roles are slightly different. Like personal care aides, CNAs can provide direct, hands-on care. They also have additional medical training that allows them to monitor clients’ health.
To earn their license, CNAs receive specialized training and must pass written and practical competency exams. CNAs are also referred to as nursing assistants, patient care assistants and nurse’s aids.
Services They May Provide:
Specific duties vary per state law, but may include:
- Taking vitals such as blood pressure, pulse and temperature
- Dressing wounds
- Tracking symptoms and reporting health changes to their supervising nurse
- Bathing, grooming and dressing assistance
- Feeding clients
- All of the services provided by companions and homemakers
Companion/Homemaker
Companions and homemakers provide emotional support, friendly conversation and help around the house. They differ from home health aides and certified nursing assistants in that they do not provide hands-on care. For example, they do not provide help with activities of daily living such as moving around, bathing or grooming.
Companions and homemakers are not required to complete formal education. They receive many hours of training with Amedisys.
Services They May Provide:
- Companionship such as talking, listening and playing board games
- Light housekeeping/laundry
- Medication reminders
- Running errands, such as grocery shopping
- Planning and preparing meals
- Sorting mail
- Watering plants
- Organizing the refrigerator and checking expiration dates
Families Like Yours Are Why We Do This Work
Many of our clients stay with their Amedisys home care provider for years. The bonds that develop with our clients are why we do what we do. It is our honor to be welcomed into clients’ homes, often becoming like a second family.
Call (800) 281-0878 to find out which type of in-home caregiver would meet your loved one’s needs.
