History

• The practice of taking care of sick people in their homes began late in the seventeenth century, according to the Encyclopedia of Surgery, when members of the Catholic church came to people's homes to care for the ill. Throughout the history of the United States until the 1960s, community members came to the homes of the infirm. Community-based agencies relied heavily on donations and charitable organizations to deliver in-home care. The United States government created Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 to address the growing financial costs of delivering care to the ill in their own homes.
  
  

Responsibilities

• Home care specialists have a wide variety of skills, although most home care specialists carry out light duties that do not require licensure. You can hire a home care specialist to perform light housekeeping duties, shopping and cooking. She can also help you get bathed and dressed in the morning and help you eat. Some home care specialists have a medical degree and can help with dressing changes and some medical care. Increasingly, highly qualified specialists are coming to patient homes to provide respiratory, physical or occupational therapies.
  
  

Advantages

• A home care specialist brings quality nursing care, normally found in hospitals and nursing homes, to your home. A senior citizen is often more comfortable in his own house, where he knows where everything is and is familiar with the home care specialists who visits him every day. Placement in a long-term care facility causes confusion in some elderly patients who may not be confused at home. The home care specialist is adept at picking up pharmacy refills, purchasing assistive devices and other healthcare supplements the patient will need. Additionally, the home care specialist is able to shop for and prepare meals that the patient prefers as opposed to the institutionalized meals provided by nursing homes.
  
  

Drawbacks

• There are some risks associated with being a home care specialist. Large institutions will cover legal liabilities, such as insurance covering patient falls or orders to resuscitate the patient, which the individual home care specialist is unable to manage. There are ethical concerns as well. The patient is in his own home and can legally do as he likes, even if it is directly contrary to what the doctor has prescribed. For example, the home care specialist cannot forbid a patient to drink alcohol in his living room, even if he hired the home care specialist to care for him as he suffers from liver disease.