Home health care in Clearwater, Florida, must be undertaken carefully, preferably with the help of a geriatric care manager if an elderly loved one needs in-home assistance. Since there is no state-administered licensing or certification process for home health aides in Florida, Pinellas County residents must rely on care-managing resources for elder care, whether for simple supervision of medications or for daily hands-on wound care. Home palliative care in Clearwater is supported by teams of social work and nursing experts through Suncoast Hospice.
Elder Care
A Clearwater-based company called Dignified Aging provides 24-hour care management for families, to ensure that care needs are properly assessed and the subsequent home health care is delivered by the appropriate practitioners.
The elder care services provided by Dignified Aging are important because the State of Florida does not test or certify home health aides. That process is left up to each home health care agency qualified to receive payments through Medicare or Medicaid. Care management may be essential if an elderly or ailing person lives alone, with no family or friends nearby.
Palliative Care
People who need palliative care may or may not be elderly. Palliative care assures quality of life for seriously ill patients whose life expectancy is a year or less. Clearwater's Suncoast Hospice provides in-home nursing and other services when palliative care is indicated. Home palliative care may include massage, art therapy, music therapy and counseling. Home health assistance provided by Suncoast Supportive Care can be billed to Medicare B or to a private insurance company. Hospice does not turn people away because of inability to pay.
Home Health Care Licensing and Registration
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) requires that all agencies and nurse registries providing service and equipment to people be licensed by and registered with the AHCA's Home Care Unit.
The National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers (NAPGCM) strongly advises the hiring only of home health care providers who work through a licensed agency or nurse registry. NAPGCM provides a 20-point list of Guidelines for Hiring In-Home Caregivers.
Clearwater Home Care Agencies
Do not hire individuals off the street to care for your loved ones at home, even if they show you a nursing degree or other certification. Deal only with agencies that are licensed to provide home health care in Clearwater. Some specialize in dementia or Alzheimer patients, such as Easy Living, Inc., a full-service agency that extensively screens and trains its caregivers. With more than 30 years of experience, the agency's services include medication management, personal hygiene, fall prevention, meal preparation, household chores and companionship.
Another agency is Senior Helpers, a family owned franchise in Largo providing home health care throughout Clearwater. The owners personally screen each employee with a 50-state background check and assume full responsibility for licensing, bonding, insurance and workers compensation.
Nursing Registries
The Certified Nursing Assistants Council of the Florida Department of Health maintains a CNA registry of people who have qualified to be nursing assistants. The state neither tests nor licenses them, but simply allows them to register their status. If you have a complaint against someone you have hired to provide home health care in Clearwater, you can file it with the Division of Medical Quality Assistance. The MQA's Consumer Services Unit will investigate, but the best way to avoid such a situation is by securing home health care services only though licensed and registered agencies.
A couple of private nursing registries also exist in Clearwater. One includes Caregiver Service, Inc., or CSI Catalano's Nurses Registry. Another is Southern Companions & Nurses, a licensed nurse registry and a sister company to Southern Home Health Care, which serves all of Pinellas County. It has operated in Clearwater for more than 20 years.
