Home health care in Glendale, Arizona, draws on the many resources available in the greater Phoenix area. You can begin with the Arizona Association for Health Care's (AAHC) list of agencies and vendors already Medicare certified and licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Whether you need to find someone to help with simple household chores and meals or provide daily nursing care, the AAHC provides support that sets Arizona apart from states where no such clearinghouse exists.
Home Care vs. Health Care
Anyone can prepare a simple meal or tidy up around the house. You want someone to have training, however, if they are going to be changing your loved one's bedclothes or helping with toiletries. Proper techniques must be followed, which should not be undertaken lightly, to avoid the chance of a fall or other injury. Glendale's own Right at Home Agency will help you to find companionship as well as light housekeeping assistance. As needed, the agency will also help you to locate elder care professionals who can address more complicated health or medical issues.
Home Health Exchange
This 24-hour service has been providing caregivers in the Phoenix area for more than 20 years. They do the drug testing and other screening of your caregivers so that your burden can be lightened without worrying that you should have done your own background check of the person who is coming into your home or your loved one's home on a regular basis. Home Health Exchange also checks your home for safety hazards and makes sure that your personal care providers are trained to spot possible dangers. They are certified in CPR and first aid, as well.
Finding a Caregiver
If your budget does not permit you to pay an agency to find the home caregiver that you need and if you or your loved one are not yet covered by Medicare, you can still locate an independent contractor to help provide home health care in Glendale. Consult the AAHC's list of vendors and look for one, such as Homecare Resources, that will give you a free consultation before you hire a person to provide nonmedical, in-home care. Individuals whom you will find through them are not licensed and certified by the state but they are at least screened in advance.
Finding an Eldercare Professional
If the level of home health care needed in Glendale is such that specific medical treatments have been ordered by a doctor, you will likely be well served by an agency approach, such as that of Home Health Services, Alary's Home Health or Nightingale Homecare. All three are licensed and Medicare certified by the Arizona Department of Health Services. If your supervising physician does not suggest a particular agency, feel free to ask for guidance in finding just the right home care expertise.
Palliative Care
Home health care in Glendale, Arizona, features Hospice of the Valley, a not-for-profit agency operating in the Phoenix area since 1977 providing palliative care for end-of-life or terminally ill patients who wish to remain at home, if possible. Other agencies offer hospice care but they do not specialize in such assistance. When palliative care is indicated, it is important that such care be administered by hospice nurses and aides who understand in advance the meaning and purpose of the care they will be providing.
Report Adult Abuse
The Arizona Department of Economic Security operates an on-line reporting system if you suspect that a home caregiver has abused or exploited someone in his or her care. Although you do not need to file such a report in person, you cannot file it anonymously. If you have a serious complaint or concern, you must be willing to be contacted within eight hours for substantiation of your claims. You can reach the department online (see Resources) or, if you do not have access to a computer, by phone at 877-767-2385 to report abuse, neglect or exploitation of a vulnerable or incapacitated person in Arizona.
