	Home Care and Support Services: Home Health Aide Services, Personal Care Aide Services, and Homemaker Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

HCS 1: Community Approach to Service Needs and Access

The organization works with other providers to create community awareness of potential recipients of home care and support so services can be accessed, as needed.

Research Note: Professional literature describing impediments to timely access to services highlights the importance of community wide concern for individuals and caregivers who may need home based services. A community or neighborhood information network can be critical for those unable to obtain services on their own.

HCS 1.01

The organization distributes current, accurate information about available services and supports at locations throughout the community to increase the reach of information for caregivers.

Interpretation: Information about how to obtain services or a referral can reach caregivers of potential care recipients through such channels as local health facilities, recreation centers, community bulletin boards at churches, town halls, other community based service organizations, and through teleconferencing.

Research Note: Research and professional literature indicate that caregivers’ need for information and schedules can be accommodated most effectively when a range of education and support programs in a variety of formats are available in a community. Offerings also may be most beneficial when targeted to specific caregiver groups and types of relationship between care recipient and care giver.

HCS 1.02

Professionals who serve as a gateway to services allocate sufficient time and number of visits to evaluate:

the extent and kind of services an individual needs and wants, and
the strengths and capabilities of caregivers, including unidentified quality of life concerns related to care giving demands.

Research Note: Results of a review of service use research, following a behavioral model of use dependent on predisposing enabling and need factors, determined that individuals with some support delay service initiation, compared to individuals who live alone and have a low level of impairment. The findings suggest that at a time of growth in demand and cost of limited home care resources, involvement of informal care givers can be a critical factor for initiating needed services in a timely manner.

HCS 1.03

Individuals receive timely information about institutional care when caregivers can no longer manage an unsafe, unhealthy, or stressful home situation.

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	PURPOSE: Individuals who receive Home Care and Support Services obtain a maximum level of independence, functioning, and health, and extend the time it is possible to live safely at home and in the community.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	CAREGIVER The provider of physical, emotional, and social needs to another person, often dependent and unable to provide for his or her own needs. Caregiver is the generic term used for the direct service providers in Community Care and Support Services (CCS).


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	QUALITY In this context, the extent to which contemporary and generally recognized standards for professional practice are met and exceeded, and desirable service outcomes achieved.


	IMPAIRMENT A loss or abnormality in physiological, psychological, or mental structure or functioning, such as paralysis of a limb, mental retardation, or blindness.