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Home Companion Care vs Home Health Care

December 10, 2019

What is the Difference Between a Caregiver and a Companion?

It’s the holiday season, and that usually means more significant time spent with loved ones. As you’re spending time with family, have you noticed that your mom and dad may need some extra assistance? If so, Senior Home Companions is here to offer you in-home companion care. Not sure what type of help they need? Here are a few of the differences between the non-skilled companion care offered by Senior Home Companions in Central Indiana, and skilled in-home health care.

Daily Living

The biggest difference between home companion care and home health care lies in the name. Companions from Senior Home Companions offer companionship and assistance in daily living, while home health aides offer medical assistance.

If your loved one needs help driving to appointments around Indianapolis, running errands or completing tasks around the house, then a companion would be perfect for them. Our services can begin within a few hours and our flexible care schedule ranges from a few hours at a time, up to 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Homemaking

Our caregivers can also provide basic homemaking needs, including meal planning and preparation, keeping up with laundry and doing light cleaning and housekeeping. They can also work with your loved one to organize paperwork or closets. This is an especially helpful task for companions during upcoming spring cleaning!

Personal Care

A great benefit to companions is that they can assist with personal care and hygiene, whereas this may not fall under the tasks of some home health aides. Senior Home Companions caregivers can help your loved one to use the bathroom or with any incontinence needs, as well as assist with dressing, grooming and bathing.

These personal care services can also be utilized for short-term rehabilitation support, such as a knee or hip replacement. Our companions can provide medication reminders, but they will not dispense medication or offer medical tests that a home health worker would be able to do.

Companionship

Are you worried that your loved one may be at risk of social isolation? Our companions provide just that — companionship — to prevent the isolation or depression that can evolve from someone being unable to drive or move around easily.

We pride ourselves on matching personalities between our caregivers and clients so that they can help encourage your loved ones to engage in hobbies that they enjoy, as well as exercise and appropriate physical activities.

If you think your parents or loved one would benefit from a home companion, or if you want to get more questions answered about the type of care they require, reach out to us today! We are happy to talk with you about ways that we can fulfill your needs!