Being a home caregiver for someone with Parkinson’s disease can have its challenges. As the condition progresses, you may find that some care tasks are beyond your skill set, comfort level, or schedule capacity. You may need to rely on skilled professionals for assistance. In this article, we’ll discuss how home care can help. 

If your care recipient can’t access certain services or you’re looking for ways to boost your home caregiving skills, Trualta can help. If you reside in Iowa, you can access Trualta’s caregiver education, resources, and more to help you build your caregiving skills and community. If you live in another state, you can check if you also have free access to Trualta.

What Is Home Care?

Home care refers to non-medical care services that are provided in your care recipient’s home. Depending on the type of support you or your care recipient needs, there are different services and providers for home care. Home care may be available from an individual hired directly or through an agency. 

These services are usually paid for by the hour. Some agencies or individuals may offer overnight services, which usually cost a flat rate. The type of service and how much help you need can affect the cost. Home care may be paid for privately, but private insurance or Medicare may cover some costs depending on your care recipient’s needs and the service provided. Some organizations, like Veterans Affairs, may also offer financial support options.

How Does Home Care Iowa Support Parkinson’s?

Parkinson’s disease is known for affecting a person’s mobility, speech, mood, sleep, and more. These changes can affect several areas of life and activities your care recipient used to be able to do on their own. 

Here are some examples of how home care can provide Parkinson-specific support:

• Moving, transferring, and positioning. Your care recipient may need more time or extra support with daily movements. Home caregivers understand that people with Parkinson’s need support with certain movements (or may do them more slowly). They may also be able to support your care recipient with mobility symptoms like “freezing”.
• Supporting exercise. Exercise is important for symptom management. Home caregivers may help with supervising or assisting with light exercise programs.
• Helping with activities of daily living and personal care tasks. Your care recipient may need extra support with tasks like dressing, eating, bathing, and using the bathroom.
• Transportation services. Because your care recipient may no longer be able to drive, a home caregiver may be able to drive them to appointments or other community activities.
• Supervising and supporting safety. Managing movement challenges and other symptoms can affect your care recipient’s safety. Home caregivers can help ensure your care recipient stays safe in the home. 
• Other homemaking services that can be difficult for your care recipient to do on their own. For example, light housekeeping, meal preparation and clean up, and errands like grocery shopping.
• Respite care. This may allow you to get a break from caregiving responsibilities to focus on self-care or other caregiving tasks.  

What Are The Benefits Of Home Care For Parkinson’s?

Living with progressive, chronic conditions like Parkinson’s means your care recipient will likely require more specialized support over time. Home care services can help your care recipient stay in their home and community for longer. This can prevent or delay moving into supportive living situations like assisted living or a nursing home or having to go to the hospital. 

Other benefits include:

• Meeting unique needs. Many caregivers are trained in providing Parkinson’s-specific care to provide personalized support. 
• Receiving care in a familiar environment. 
• Building social relationships. One-on-one care in the home gives your care recipient the opportunity to connect with another person. 
• Saving travel time to receive care services or get tasks done. This can be especially helpful if your care recipient lives in a rural area or when weather conditions make transportation challenging. 
• Giving you peace of mind. Delegating care tasks can help give you time to focus on other caregiving tasks or provide a much-needed break. 
• Flexibility. Many home care plans can be adjusted as your care recipient’s needs change as their condition progresses.

Important! There may come a time during your care journey when your care recipient requires a higher level or frequency of care than what can be provided at home. If this is the case, you and your care recipient may need to explore long-term care solutions.

Where Can I Access Medical Care At Home?

Depending on your care recipient’s needs, they may qualify for home healthcare services. This is care for an illness or injury that is delivered in a person’s home by healthcare professionals. They might include:

• Skilled nursing care
• Occupational, physical, or speech-language therapy
• Medical social services
• Home Health Aide care

Your care recipient needs to be assessed by their doctor and meet certain eligibility requirements to qualify and to have their services paid for by Medicare.

Finding The Right Home Care

It can feel daunting when you have so many options for home care agencies to choose from. It can be helpful to choose one that employs caregivers who are experienced in providing Parkinson’s-specific care. Here are some resources that may be able to help you find a home care Iowa service provider:

• The National Alliance for Care At Home Agency Locator 
• The Eldercare Locator website or call 1-800-677-1116
• Iowa Health & Human Services – Caregiver Resources
• Your local Area Agency on Aging
• American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) – Iowa Chapter
• Talk to a doctor or other member of the healthcare team to direct you to resources
• Faith-based organizations

It’s common to feel like you’re “less of a caregiver”–or even guilty–when you seek support from others. Remind yourself that getting home care services can help you get the support you need, so you can focus on other parts of care. 

References

1. https://hhs.iowa.gov/programs/welcome-iowa-medicaid/iowa-medicaid-programs/home-health 
2. https://iowahomecare.com/ 
3. https://www.parkinson.org/resources-support/carepartners/outside-help/care-facility 
4. https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/home-health-services 
5. https://www.visitingangels.com/desmoines/parkinsons-disease-care 
6. https://www.rightathome.net/des-moines/services/specialty-care/parkinsons-disease 
7. https://www.parkinson.org/resources-support/carepartners/outside-help 
8. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-caregiving/getting-help-alzheimers-caregiving 
9. https://www.comforcare.com/resources/what-is-home-care.html