Healthy at Home: A Lifesaving Mission
NOTE: Harbor Care no longer operates a home healthcare program.
As many of us are sorely aware, the percentage of COVID-19 deaths in New Hampshire’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities was very recently the highest in the nation. Seventy-seven percent of New Hampshire’s COVID-19 deaths — more than three out of every four — have involved residents of long-term care facilities, according to both state and federal data. The national average is half that. While this in part reflects that New Hampshire’s population overall has had a lower mortality rate than much of the country, it underscores the importance of providing dependable healthcare in residents’ homes.
For many in NH, home care, which has long been preferred by patients, families, and care givers, is now considered significantly safer than long-term care facilities. Most individuals who need home care are medically fragile, and more susceptible to infections of all kinds, not just COVID-19. For homebound individuals and those with pre-existing conditions, less outside contact means less chance of infection.
Unfortunately, for the most financially vulnerable, with chronic conditions, home care that goes beyond an acute episode of rehabilitation or support is often not attainable. Low-income individuals are the most likely to be homebound, with rates of disabilities and chronic conditions at twice the rates of the general population, but are least able to afford home care.
Across the country, most pay out-of-pocket for daily-living care, or purchase costly add-on insurance. Unable to afford these extras, individuals who are low0income or living on a fixed income and in need of daily supports are more likely to leave their homes for long-term care facilities. During the coronavirus outbreak, however, this option became untenable. Healthy at Home’s mission to assist homebound individuals who are underinsured and/or low-income to remain independent, dignified, and safe in their homes became a lifesaving one.
As the Greater Nashua region’s only independent non-profit home care agency, more than any other similar entity, Healthy at Home provides home care services to the most vulnerable in our community, particularly to those whose insurance runs far short of covering all costs.
Since 1997, the agency has helped thousands of individuals stay in their homes and avoid the expense and risks of assisted living facilities, nursing homes, hospitals or other institutions—benefiting clients, families, insurers, and the entire community. No client is asked to pay above what insurance provides, and Harbor Care, a nonprofit agency, annually provides $300,000 in subsidies. Moreover, through local affiliations and partnerships, we ensure clients receive all the supports they need to succeed.
Healthy at Home provides both home health care, which accounts for 20% of our services, and daily-living care, which accounts for 80%:
· Home health care includes skilled nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, and often occurs following an acute illness or injury. These services replace more costly – and potentially more risky -- stays at skilled nursing facilities.
· Daily-living care includes everything from basic health monitoring to help with getting out of bed, to picking up prescriptions and preparing meals. Trained home health aides or personal care service providers are supervised by nursing staff for these and all tasks. These services usually replace life-long stays at assisted living facilities, allowing clients to remain comfortably and safely in their own homes.
Across all services, our clients and caregivers build solid, trusting, and occasionally life-long relationships. Home care is the preferred mode of treatment by nearly all those involved, including families, insurers, providers, and, of course, clients themselves.
As part of Harbor Care, Healthy at Home is a member one of the largest health and human service collaborations in the state. For Healthy at Home clients, Harbor Care programs allow streamlined access to supportive housing, substance use treatment, primary and behavioral healthcare, and HIV/AIDS case management, integrated within the homecare plan. Though “integrated care,” is a common catchphrase among healthcare providers these days, Harbor Care’s model is unique in that it helps address all threats to our client’s dignity, independence, and health.
For the average client, home care is a quarter of the cost of assisted living, a sixth of the cost of rehabilitation facilities, and a fifteenth of the cost of a hospital stay. Particularly as NH ages (and we are rapidly becoming one of the grayest states), home health care of all types—especially for those most vulnerable—is essential in curbing the costs and heartache of end-of-life care.
If you would like to know more about our home health services through Healthy at Home, please visit our Home Care Services page.
You are invited to call 603-595-4243 for a confidential, free, no-obligation consultation.