If you’re juggling multiple doctors, appointments, medications and care plans, you may feel overwhelmed. When you have complex health needs, managing your care can feel like a second job, and you still might not be getting all the help you need. Family caregivers are invaluable support, but no one can do it all. Yet staying on top of your health, especially if you have multiple chronic conditions, can make a significant difference in your quality of life.
Today, there are solutions that can help take the stress off you and your family’s plate — like an in-home care provider. When you hear “in-home care,” you might think of a full-time, live-in nurse, but this kind of care is different. If you’re managing chronic conditions like heart or kidney disease, an in-home care provider can assess your health in the home and make continual at-home visits to help you more easily manage your wellness.
“The burden of navigating a complicated health care system to address complex chronic disease shouldn’t fall completely on you.”
Mark Benson, DO – Chief Medical Officer
Who are in-home care providers?
In-home care providers are nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and at times, physicians, who come to your home to diagnose, treat and help manage complex health conditions. They spend up to an hour with you at each appointment to give you plenty of time to talk through your medications, understand how different care plans fit together and troubleshoot anything that’s not working.
Not your typical home health visit
Your condition may require more time with a provider than you can spend in a primary care physician’s or specialist’s office. While they won’t replace your regular doctors, in-home care visits can fill that gap right where you live. In-home care can include physical exams, disease education, medicine management, assessment of your mental health and barriers to optimal care, and 24/7 phone support.
If you need labs, imaging or a referral to a specialist, in-home care can help with that, too. Once you’ve had your initial visit, you’ll have a dedicated case manager to help keep things running smoothly so you don’t have to feel alone in your care.
This won’t replace your doctors
In-home care providers are there as extra support for your doctors and are not meant to replace them. These providers serve as additional eyes and ears, bringing insights from your daily environment into your overall care plan. Any assessments and medical care changes are communicated with your primary care provider so your entire medical team is better aware of your health status and well-being.
Help for family caregivers
In-home care providers make sure your caregivers are supported, too. If you have a spouse helping with daily tasks, a grown child juggling your appointments or a friend stopping by to check in, the provider will sit down with them to make sure they understand what’s working, what’s not, and how to help ease the burden. It can be as simple as providing a consistent presence when things might feel overwhelming.
If you don’t have a caregiver, community health workers are also available to visit your home and address challenges that go beyond medical care, like food, transportation, rent assistance and housing needs.
If you are an eligible Lucet member, in-home care is covered for you. We can connect the dots, serve as your advocate, and help you make sense of your health — because the burden of navigating a complicated health care system to address complex chronic disease shouldn’t fall completely on you.
Mark Benson, DO is chief medical officer at Lucet.
