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What Is Non-Acute Home Care?
Date Updated: December 6, 2024
Written by:
Sarah has produced thousands of articles in diverse niches over her decade-long career as a full-time freelance writer. This includes substantial content in the fields of senior care and health care. She has experience writing about wide-ranging topics, such as types of care, care costs, funding options, state Medicaid programs and senior resources.
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Dr. Brindusa Vanta is a health care professional, researcher, and an experienced medical writer (2000+ articles published online and several medical ebooks). She received her MD degree from “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine, Romania, and her HD diploma from OCHM – Toronto, Canada.
Non-acute home care delivers vital support services that allow seniors to live independently, safely and comfortably at home. It enables individuals to manage daily living activities, personal hygiene and tasks necessary for maintaining a home. Conversely, non-acute home health care assists those with non-urgent medical needs, such as chronic conditions.
Typical Non-Acute Home Care Services
Older adults may require short-term or long-term non-acute home care, which supports seniors aging in place. Because home care doesn’t include skilled care, if individuals’ clinical or therapeutic needs increase, they may also need home health care attention — acute or non-acute — or nursing home admission.
Regular home care agencies never provide acute care. They tailor practical services to meet seniors’ unique requirements. Standard home care packages provide companionship and include assistance with:
- Personal care, such as bathing, brushing teeth, using the toilet, dressing, and trimming beards and nails
- Mobility and transferring
- Medication reminders, fetching drugs and opening packaging
- Housework and laundry
- Light yard work
- Grocery shopping and meal preparation
- Errand running and escorting to appointments
- Local transportation
In-Home Acute Care
Unlike home care, home health care includes medical, rehabilitative and dietary support. Home health services help seniors recover at home following an accident, illness or operation, whether routine or emergency. They also support those managing symptoms of cognitive decline and chronic health conditions. Individuals may receive long- or short-term home health care. While services typically classify as sub- or post-acute, they can include elements of acute care, whereby an individual receives hospital-level care in their residence.
A health care professional evaluates a patient and, if their condition is stable, they assess the individual's eligibility for acute care at home. Examples of in-home acute care include nonsurgical management of fractures and severe infections. However, many people receive acute care in an inpatient setting, such as a hospital or specialized rehabilitation facility. Depending on an individual’s condition and care needs, in-home and residential hospice care may also fall into the acute care bracket.