Across Ontario, many individuals will be considering using home care services to assist with their health needs – be it old age, surgery recovery, complex health need or chronic health condition. Receiving care at home is the preferred choice for many reasons – it’s convenient, more comfortable and allows an individual to maintain their independence in their own familiar living space. Receiving care at home is often the more cost-effective option too, compared to moving to a care and retirement residence.
What home care services are available?
For those interested, there are a variety of home care services available to those living in Ontario. These services include…
- Personal Care Services: to assist with all aspects of personal care and hygiene, as well as meal preparation and practical everyday household tasks.
- Nursing Care Services: all types of wound treatment, plus pain, medication and symptom management.
- Physiotherapy Services: to assist in pain relief and management, as well as help with mobility recovery.
- Occupational Therapy Services: to assist in enhancing home safety and implementation of methods to help in daily tasks.
- Speech Therapy Services: to treat speech and language impediments and difficulties, as well as swallowing and feeding issues.
- Nutrition and Dietetic Services: to assist with dietary issues and chronic disease management.
Are services government funded or chargeable?
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) does cover a wide variety of the home care services, but eligibility of individual cases and what care services will be provided is the responsibility of the Home and Community Care Support Services (HCCSS). Anyone resident in Ontario can apply to have their health care situation assessed by HCCSS. No referral is needed from a doctor or other healthcare provider for this to happen.
What happens if a case is eligible for care services?
If a case is successful, it is referred through to a Service Provider Organization (SPO) contracted to a local HCCSS office. The SPO will allocate a Care Co-ordinator to each case. It is their role to liaise with the client and arrange any agreed services and the frequency of these. Care Co-ordinators are also able to connect clients to any other community services they think may be suitable, such as meal service providers and day programs.
And if a case doesn’t qualify, or partially qualifies?
Qualifying for and accessing publicly funded home care services in Ontario can be difficult. If a case does not qualify for funding, or only part funding, individuals can always explore the possibility of other funding channels. These include…
- Private insurance plans
- Disability Tax Credit
- Medical Expense Tax Credit
- Canadian Caregiver Credit
- Ontario Seniors Care at Home Credit
If funding is still not possible, or only partial funding available, individuals will have to meet the cost, or make up the difference in cost themselves for home care services. Ontario has many private home care service organizations that offer wide ranges of care services available to purchase.
Using a private Home Care Service provider
Selectacare is one of the many private home care companies in Ontario where individuals can purchase home care services. We assess each client’s home care needs on an individual bases and then put forward care plan options for the client to choose from. Selectacare can provide round the clock home care services, or top-up any existing home care frameworks that are already in place. All care plans we offer are fully adjustable to adapt to a client’s healthcare requirements.
In Summary…
Home care services are widely available across the province, with both publicly funded and private services available. All Ontario residents can request to have their home healthcare requirements assessed without any referral. Cases are assessed on an individual basis and may quality to be fully or partially funded. Where cases are turned down, or partially successful, individuals may seek out funding from private insurance plans or other tax credit plans. Where this funding is not successful, individuals have the choice of purchasing private home care health services from home health care organizations.