OCCK adds home health services
To help people be able to stay in their homes,
"It had been a dream of our leaders -- our CEO and our vice president -- for several years now," said Home Health Administrator
When
"There is so much expense associated with those areas, you're sending your nurses or your physical therapist out to be on the road so much," she said.
When one employee's day is spent almost entirely on just one or two clients, many for-profit agencies decline to offer the services at all.
The first component of the new In My Home services was homecare, which started about a year and a half ago.
"On the homecare side we offer assistance with bathing, homemaking assistance lawn care, gutter cleaning, companionship services -- non skilled services," Gehring said. "It's our state-licensed side, we take
The home health side of In My Home accepts
"On the home health side we do the field nursing, the physical therapy, occupational therapy; we have a home health aide, medical and social worker, and speech therapist," she said.
"The difference on homecare and home health is that on the homecare side people do not have to be homebound -- there doesn't need to be any kind of doctor's orders," she said. "It can simply be someone calling in and saying 'mom and dad need someone to come in and help with cleaning; or dad has a little bit of dementia, we need someone to sit with him while mom is out for a while.'"
The home health side is for people with a skilled need. For example, if they have a complicated wound, onset of a new medical diagnosis or any issue causing them to be homebound.
By homebound, Gehring is referring to individuals for whom it takes "a taxing effort" to get out and about.
"It doesn't mean they have to be in their home 24/7," she said.
They can go to medical appointments, church, the hair salon and such. But, it takes effort. Usually they have to have someone drive them and mobility is difficult.
With the aging population of
"I feel like there is an abundance of need for people to stay in their home, out of institutions, out of the hospital, out of skilled nursing facilities," Gehring said. "Mom or dad is going to want to stay in the comfort of their own home. If it is safe for them, keeping them in their own home is the main priority."
To learn more about In My Home, visit http://www.occk.com//InMyHome/ or call (785) 823-2025.
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