How Home Care Can Help You Recover After a Hospital Stay

Whether your hospital visit was planned or out of the blue, you should never have to go it alone while you recover.

Here are just a handful of ways that home care services can support you after a hospital stay.

What is Post-Hospital Transition Care?

Temporary, post-hospital home care is usually referred to as transition care. Transition care is a specially organised form of care, aimed to help you regain your independence after a hospital visit. A person may wish to receive transition care if they’re experiencing limited mobility due to illness or surgery, or if they’re taking medications that affect their ability to care for themselves.

How Can Home Care Services Help After a Hospital Stay?

Home care services can help in many ways while you’re recovering from your hospital stay. The most common services requested for transition care, are community nursing and personal care. When you receive community nursing services, a qualified nurse will visit your home to administer medication, change dressings, and help with wound care where needed. On the other hand, personal care is administered by a qualified care worker, and may include help with hygiene, nutrition, grooming, and toileting.

However, post-hospital home care can involve assistance with any tasks that are essential to your health and wellbeing. This could include cleaning, gardening, transport, and home maintenance—just to name a few.

How Can I Organise Transition Care?

If you’re an older adult seeking transition care, there are two main ways to connect with a provider. The first, is through a My Aged Care assessment. This assessment begins while you’re still in hospital—you can either ask the hospital staff to contact My Aged Care on your behalf, or you can contact them yourself if you’re feeling able. An assessor will then visit you in hospital to conduct your assessment. If you are approved for transition care via My Aged Care, your support will be subsidised, and you’ll be connected with an approved provider.

If you are not approved for subsidised transition care, or you’d prefer to engage care services privately, you can contact a provider directly without an assessment. Your chosen provider will then organise your care services to begin upon discharge. You will have access to trusted care services for as long as you need them, to help you recover and return to your day-to-day life, as quickly as possible.

Are you coming home after a recent hospital visit? Here at Simply Helping, we can help you rest and recover with our flexible home care services. Click here to learn more and contact us today!